


Yesterdays Taking Over

by CapsuleCorp



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Drama, Fights, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 16:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3985063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapsuleCorp/pseuds/CapsuleCorp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What starts out as an average mission around the kingdom brings Conrad’s past into sharp relief with the present, and wakes several people up to the truth about their relationships to each other. Takes place somewhat after episode 50. Originally posted/finished in 2009.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yesterdays Taking Over

The dull slap of ball hitting glove played in a slow rhythm over the usual outdoor sounds of the castle courtyard, broken only by the occasional yelp of a catcher missing and the thud of the ball rolling away on the ground. Then a giggle, a taunt, and the back-and-forth rhythm resumed. With the midday sun hot on the backs of their necks, Yuuri and Conrad happily whiled away the hours tossing a ball back and forth, idly chatting about current castle gossip in between their unhurried throws. Greta was parked at a little table nearby, fully absorbed in coloring pictures, while Wolfram stood guard next to her, his arms folded grumpily as he watched the game of catch. Whenever Conrad brought out the gloves, it bothered Wolfram more than he cared to admit – he was torn between wanting to learn this stupid game of Yuuri’s in order to be the one spending time with him, and his pride at not wanting to be made a fool of by being seen throwing a baseball. All he could do was stand by and watch, and sulk. At least he could be of use to Greta, who wanting nothing more complicated in life than to be in close proximity to her two daddies. Wolfram watched as the ball sailed high, looking like it was going wild, but at the last minute Conrad lunged and caught it neatly. “Lazy,” he called to Yuuri, “your throws are becoming lazy.”

“Aw, cut me some slack, Conrad,” Yuuri whined. “I haven’t been to baseball practice in ages, now that I’m stuck here.”

Conrad smiled and tossed the ball back. “At least I’ve got you back into your morning running routine. You need to stay in shape.”

“Yeah, I know.” As much as he should have disliked going on an intense run every morning, trying to keep up to the fleet-footed Conrad, Yuuri was secretly rather glad that he was back in order to force him to keep this routine. Given the alternative, anyway. Yuuri caught the ball easily and gave it a hard throw back, forcing Conrad to brace himself to catch it smack in the middle of the strike zone.

Wolfram grumbled under his breath. “That wimp? Going for a morning run isn’t enough to get him into shape.”

The ball flew back and forth a couple more times, and Yuuri stood waiting to catch it again when his attention was arrested by movement in his peripheral sight. Glancing to his left, he could see Gwendal storming along the pillared arcade running along the side of the courtyard, his step quick and purposeful enough to indicate that he was going somewhere in an angry hurry. Günter strode alongside him, apparently either cajoling, scolding, or questioning him at a flustered pace. Curious, Yuuri’s eyes followed them until they vanished out of sight through another archway, at which point he was smacked on the head by the ball he wasn’t watching like he should have been. “Ow! Conrad!” he cried.

Conrad hid his laugh behind his glove. “Sorry!” he called back. “Focus, your Majesty!”

Muttering to himself, Yuuri went to find the ball that had rolled away under some bushes. “Focus, he says,” he sighed. “Kind of hard to focus when everybody else is running around here like there’s some kind of trouble.” At that he paused, thinking, with the ball in hand. Straightening up, he turned to the others. “Hey, Conrad,” he asked speculatively, “is everything going all right around here? There’s no…issues that I should be on top of, are there?”

Conrad gave him a genuinely innocent look. “No, not that I’m aware of,” he shrugged.

“The country is perfectly quiet,” Wolfram put in. “Everything seems to have settled down.”

Yuuri threw the ball back to Conrad. “And no news of the fourth box, either, huh?”

Conrad caught the ball and shook his head solemnly. “Nothing at all.”

“Hm.” Yuuri idly pounded his fist into his glove. “I wonder what has Gwendal all riled up, then?” he pondered aloud. “Him and Günter both.”

Wolfram glanced across the courtyard, though the opposing arcade was deserted now. He, too, had seen the other two rush past. “Maybe they’re running from Anissina,” he suggested.

Yuuri laughed. “There is always that.”

“I don’t think it has anything to do with Anissina,” a foreign voice broke in.

Startled, Yuuri turned to find the source of the comment. Wolfram whirled in place, for the speaker was right behind him. Yozak stood leaning on one of the pillars by the door, huge arms folded over his brawny chest and his usual big, lazy smile on his face. “Yozak!” Yuuri greeted him.

Conrad paused in mid-throw and let his arm fall to his side. “This is an unexpected surprise, Yozak. We don’t often see you around the castle.”

“Yeah,” Yuuri agreed, “you shouldn’t be such a stranger. It’s good to see you.”

“Too bad it isn’t for a friendly visit,” Yozak said with a sort of shrug. He was clad in his usual plain peasant tunic, but had a traveling cloak pinned over it, which looked like it was fresh from the trail considering the amount of dust clinging to it. He stepped down into the courtyard as Conrad came over to join the others, abandoning the game for now. “Although now that you mention it, I could stick around long enough for a hot bath and a big meal, I suppose.”

“Why are you here, then?” Yuuri wondered. “If it’s not a friendly visit, that means it’s unfriendly…” His eyes widened as his thoughts turned to Gwendal and Günter.

Yozak set a big, meaty hand on Yuuri’s head and ruffled his black hair. “Can’t put one past you, can I, kiddo?” But he still smiled in that infuriatingly calm and secretive way he usually did when he knew more than anyone else present. “Too bad you’re not the one I was asked to report to. You’ll have to ask Gwendal.”

Yuuri quivered in anger for a brief moment. “Hey, I’m the Maou, in case anyone around here has forgotten,” he griped. “If there’s something wrong, I should be the one to hear about it, right?” He turned sharply and stalked off across the courtyard, heading in the direction where his two counselors had been seen. Wolfram gave a small start and hurried to follow him.

Yozak stood there still smiling, watching the boys rush off, and then glanced down at Greta at her table. She had only looked up in time to see Yuuri and Wolfram disappear, leaving her there with the big men, and sat blinking in confusion. Yozak bent down over her. “Hey, that’s a really pretty picture. Is that a dragon?”

Greta turned to him with a big grin. “It’s the dragon that knows Yuuri,” she proclaimed proudly. “The pretty blue one.”

“Ahh…” Yozak beamed at her. “You did a good job.”

“Yozak,” Conrad broke in. “What did you come here to report to Gwendal?”

Ever the charmer, Yozak picked Greta up out of her seat and raised her high in the air, to her squeals of delight, and then nestled her comfortably in his arms. “True, I don’t really have to come here in person to share information when I find it,” he said casually. “I suppose I could have sent a message. But I had a feeling Gwendal might want to reassign me to some other mission besides reconnaissance.”

Conrad’s brow furrowed in concern. “What is it?”

“I’ve been riding through some of the borderlands lately,” Yozak replied, seeming more interested in Greta’s inspection of the jeweled cloak pin on his shoulder than in Conrad’s question. “You know, some of those places I haven’t been to in…hmm, I’d say twenty years?”

He fixed Conrad with a pointed look, which received a start and a discomfited stare in return as he expected.

Yuuri strode through the castle with Wolfram on his heels, guessing that the target of his search could be found as usual in Gwendal’s office. He yanked open the door to find Gwendal and Günter hunched together over a map, hands resting on the table as they faced each other across it with grim frowns. Both looked up sharply at the intrusion. “I thought so!” Yuuri burst out. “You’re doing it again!”

Gwendal straightened up, though his expression did not change. “Haven’t you learned the manners to knock by now?” he murmured grouchily.

“You’ve gotten information about some kind of problem, maybe a rumor of troops from Big Shimaron, or the theft of rare artifacts, or yet another plot to kidnap me,” Yuuri accused them, “and you’re trying to keep it from me like you always do. I’m the Maou! I’m supposed to be in charge! How can people look to me for leadership if my counselors all do the work for me?”

Günter held up his hands cautioningly, looking suitably chastened. “Your Majesty, it isn’t like that,” he tried to explain.

“Yozak said he came here with some information,” Yuuri challenged. “If it’s not trouble, then why do you two have those creases in your foreheads like you do whenever there’s something that worries you?”

Gwendal and Günter both started again, though Gwendal only looked even more grouchy at being caught, while Günter tried to put on a smile. “No, no, you misunderstand me,” he stammered. “It’s not that we weren’t going to tell you…”

Yuuri smirked knowingly, raising a hand to point at his own head. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that he still had the ball glove on it, so it came off a lot less sternly than it should have. “I’m smarter than you give me credit for, I put two and two together. You guys rushing through the castle with a fire on your heels, Yozak showing up out of nowhere…”

Wolfram clapped a hand to his face in embarrassment. “Yuuri, take the stupid glove off.”

Yuuri grinned sheepishly and quickly hid his arm behind his back so he could wrestle the glove off privately. Gwendal just fixed him with the aloof, curt look he tended to give Yuuri whenever discussions like this started. “You couldn’t even give us ten minutes to talk it over before we came to you? Such impatience doesn’t help us at all.”

“Ah…” Yuuri paused with his mouth open, his retort stolen from him by Gwendal’s accusation. “You…really were going to tell me? And not keep it a secret until you’d already formed plans and marched away without me?”

“We’ve only just received this information,” Günter explained with an exasperated sigh. “We can’t even agree over what it might mean to you or to the current state of affairs in Shin Makoku.”

Setting his glove on the table, Yuuri came over to his counselor’s side. “So…what is it? If you don’t mind, I’d like to be in on the plans from the start this time.” 

Both of the older men sighed quietly, consenting to continue with the Maou’s involvement. Gwendal stabbed a finger at a portion of the map in front of him. “Along this border with the human territories, there are places where we can’t always control who is coming in or going out. Villages may be hidden deep in remote areas where traffic may not always reach, where rumors of your Majesty’s recent activities haven’t even penetrated.”

“As I found when I traveled the country, and reached these borderlands here,” Günter added, glancing his finger at a different spot on the map.

Yuuri gazed in interest at the map, as Wolfram came up and stood by Gwendal’s side to observe. “Really?” the young king said. “I’ve been to Caloria and Shimaron and Suberera and all over the human territories, and there’s people in our own country who haven’t even heard of me?”

“We’ve done our best to send word to every corner of Shin Makoku,” Günter said patiently, “and it’s much better than it was before. Still, it’s a big country. Your Majesty’s eye can’t be everywhere at once.”

“This border is particularly worrisome,” Gwendal went on, sweeping his finger down a line that separated the Mazoku nation from human territories. “I have long suspected that this is where the spies from Big Shimaron have been getting in. They are too easily penetrating our defenses and gathering information on our troops, and on the Maou.”

“Spies,” Yuuri breathed. “I didn’t know it was all so…adventuresome.”

Wolfram gave him a scolding look. “Don’t be an idiot. This is a serious matter.”

“Do we have spies?” Yuuri asked Gwendal, a little too excitedly.

Günter chuckled softly. “What do you think Yozak is?”

“The human nations don’t know about that, do they?” Yuuri pouted. “I’d hate to be trying to form these alliances with them and be all nice, while behind their backs we’re spying on them.”

“It is a necessity in these times,” Gwendal said curtly. “Our allies permit us to enter their territories and share information with them. It isn’t unexpected.”

“Oh.” Yuuri looked at the map again. “So, are you trying to stop the spies from coming in? Is that what this is all about?”

Günter folded his hands in front of him and turned slightly toward Yuuri. “Enemy spies would not be able to enter the country so easily if they weren’t being aided by some inside Shin Makoku. We received word that some of them might be coming through here…” He pointed to a spot on the map where little jagged lines indicated mountains. “…and are being harbored by villagers in the area.”

Wolfram looked up at him incredulously. “Willingly?”

“I’m afraid so,” Günter nodded. “You see…not everyone understands the fairness of His Majesty and the lengths he is going to in order to bring peace to the world.”

“Then such people are traitors,” Wolfram snapped. “Harboring the enemy amounts to treason against the kingdom and the Maou. They need to be dealt with.”

“Hang on, Wolfram,” Yuuri implored. “Gwendal…is he right? Is that what you’re planning to do?”

Gwendal closed his eyes briefly, his grim face growing even more sober. “It would be counterproductive to make a move against our own people in such a way without firm evidence. I am still not certain exactly what is happening out there.”

“Is that where you sent Yozak, then?”

“Yozak has brought us news of a different sort,” Günter cautioned, “though perhaps related. At least Gwendal thinks so; I, on the other hand, do not wish to burden your Majesty any further. It isn’t clear evidence of anything, merely a suggestion.”

“His Majesty is here demanding to know,” Gwendal cut in. “So perhaps we’ll let him decide.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yuuri said eagerly. “Tell me. It’s not going to be a burden, Günter, I promise.”

Günter bowed his head with a sigh, so Gwendal took it upon himself to relate the news. “Yozak told us of a growing discontent in that border area, even unrest. He witnessed a village near there repel the troops I sent to investigate border security.”

Yuuri stared at him. “Repel…? Did they attack the soldiers?”

“Not directly. But threats were made, and my men decided it would be prudent to retreat and wait for further instruction rather than push the issue. Yozak suspects that if they hadn’t, it might have turned violent.”

“That’s awful,” Yuuri murmured. “But these villages…they’re on our side, right? They’re Mazoku?”

Gwendal and Günter shared a wary look across the table. “Yes, your Majesty,” the latter replied heavily. “They are our own people.”

Wolfram glared. “You see? Traitors.”

“We don’t know enough about what has happened in this area to know why they were angered by the presence of soldiers,” Günter cautioned. “They may be pacifists exercising their right to a quiet existence. We can’t even say whether or not they have heard of your Majesty’s noble rule. It is my counsel that we should wait for more information.”

“And I say we have let spies creep into Shin Makoku for far too long,” Gwendal countered. “I did not say we should resort to a frontal assault, but this is a matter I cannot leave alone anymore.”

“It is only one village, though,” Günter argued. “Pursuing the matter there may mean neglecting the others in the area who may be sympathizers, or those ignorant of the new Maou…”

Wolfram looked across to Yuuri and gave him a daring smirk. “So, Yuuri. Now that you’ve heard this big news like you wanted, what do you have to say?”

The other two turned their attention to the Maou as well. Yuuri stood there in silence for a moment, though by the hard look in his eyes, they could tell he was doing his best to think. “Well,” he finally answered, breaking into a hesitant smile, “I don’t know.”

“Surely, your Majesty, you can see how detrimental it might be to treat these fellow Mazoku as our enemy and suspect them of the worst without proof?” Günter pleaded.

“Yeah…that would be bad…” Yuuri lifted his eyes trustingly to Gwendal. “But Gwendal knows more about war and spies than I do. I think he has a very important point.”

Gwendal nodded once, his grim look easing with only the faintest hint of a smile somewhere in his blue eyes to suggest that he might have been pleased to have the Maou’s approval. “If you wish to leave this matter to me, your Majesty, I will handle it as best I know how. Without the use of force,” he added with a sharp look for Günter, “at least for the time being. Should they show themselves to be hostile towards the Maou for any reason, I may have to alter that course.”

Yuuri listened to him patiently and then gave a great sigh, bowing his head. “Why should any Mazoku be hostile towards me? Haven’t they been waiting for a Maou who wants peace? Isn’t that what everybody said when I showed up – that the country needed its chosen leader and I had come to do great things? I don’t understand it.”

“And how long has it taken you to win over many of those people?” Wolfram reminded him.

“I can’t imagine anyone wishing to rebel against you if they only knew you, your Majesty,” Günter gushed. “If these people distrust you, perhaps it’s only because they haven’t met you. Everyone who comes into contact with your Majesty has been instantly changed, becoming your faithful ally and friend. You have an irresistible charm…”

Though he had only intended to comfort Yuuri’s ego, Günter had inadvertently given him an idea. After a moment’s thought, Yuuri lifted his head, his eyes sparkling with determination all over again. “Then that’s what I have to do,” he declared. “I have to go win these people over, just like everyone else!”

The other three recoiled. “Yuuri…” Wolfram protested.

“Your Majesty!” Günter cried in alarm.

“I don’t recommend such action,” Gwendal warned.

“You want more proof before you can do anything, right?” Yuuri countered. “What better proof than having the Maou show up right in the middle of them, and see how they react? If they haven’t heard about the changes we’ve been making, then it’s about time I told them myself. And if they have, well…” He grinned at Günter. “I want them to tell me to my face why they don’t like me. I can take it, I’m not too sensitive. Besides, maybe they have something to say. I’ll listen. They can’t be mad at a Maou who comes and listens to their problems, right?”

Wolfram shook his head, but with a faint smile. “You idealistic fool,” he breathed.

“Your Majesty,” Günter fretted, “it wouldn’t be safe…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go alone,” Yuuri assured him. “I’ll take a nice-sized bodyguard. We’ll make it a…a goodwill trip or something. _You_ got to travel the country and meet all kinds of people,” he added with a pout towards Günter. “Why can’t I?”

“Because,” a soft voice said from the doorway, “you attract too much attention.”

Yuuri glanced to see Conrad standing there, listening to the entire exchange. “Conrad,” he complained. “In all the time I’ve been here, all the places I’ve been and the trouble I keep getting caught up in…have you guys ever been able to stop me from going out? You know I hate being cooped up in here, I’d rather be out there doing something to help.” He clenched his hands at his sides into fists. “I just wish you guys would stop treating me like a fragile jewel that has to be locked up for safety.”

A stunned silence passed through the room, as all three taller, elder men looked at their feet and failed to respond to that. Wolfram was the only one who made a movement, going around the table to Yuuri’s side. “Brother,” he said quietly, looking to Gwendal, “Mother used to go on goodwill trips around the country all the time. To show the people she was still on their side, and concerned about them, even in the middle of war.”

Gwendal folded his arms. “I think Mother had a few other reasons for going on such trips,” he muttered.

“A cadre of troops makes people nervous and think of war,” Wolfram went on. “A smaller escort of nobles would make much more sense, going around with the Maou to visit his people. Naturally, as his fiancé I insist on going with him, and will bring a number of my personal guard to accompany us for protection.”

Yuuri was so stunned that he forgot to be annoyed with Wolfram’s assertion of their engagement. “Wolfram,” he said curiously. “You agree with my idea?”

Wolfram cracked him a knowing smile. “It’s like you said – we can’t stop you from going once your mind is made up. Besides…” He looked away with an arrogant sniff. “I have to keep you from flirting with any girls who might throw themselves at the Maou.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “Naturally.”

Gwendal shot a dark look across the room to Conrad. “You’ll go also, I presume?”

Conrad smiled in resignation. “If I’m considered nobleman enough. Of course, I want to protect His Majesty no matter where he goes.”

“Well, I have too much to attend to here, and Günter…”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Günter sighed overdramatically. “Poor Günter, fated to always stay in the castle and see to the daily task of running the kingdom while His Majesty is away!”

“Aw, Günter,” Yuuri said sympathetically. “I appreciate everything you do, really. You have so many difficult tasks, I know there’s no one else in this whole castle capable of doing what you do.”

Delighted, Günter whirled and clasped his king’s hands, his eyes shining with love. “Oh, how it warms my heart to hear you say that, your Majesty! Of course, everything I do is merely to be of some small help to you, so you don’t have to burden yourself with mundane tasks, and I never expect a word of thanks. It is my duty. Thank you, your Majesty!”

He nearly threw his arms around Yuuri to squeeze him in joy, but Wolfram was strategically in the way all of a sudden, clearing his throat. He swiped Yuuri’s baseball glove up from the table and gave him a nudge toward the door. “It’s settled, then. Conrad and I will escort Yuuri on a routine goodwill mission around the kingdom, which just happens to include these borderlands in our path.”

Seeing as he wasn’t going to be able to argue against the safety and sanity of such an idea, Gwendal switched to giving solid advice. “Take an escort of no more than five or six,” he said firmly. “Personal guard only, no soldiers. But choose them well, in case you need to fight your way out of a bad situation.”

“Perhaps you should consult with His Highness at the Shinou temple, in the off chance there isn’t time for His Majesty to be taking a very long journey,” Günter added.

“Right,” Yuuri nodded. “I promise you guys, I won’t do anything stupid this time.” He ignored Wolfram’s disbelieving snort. “I just want to get out and see people, and try to explain to these villagers at the border that I’m not the bad guy. Maybe if they see me for themselves, they’ll quiet down. Thanks,” he added, glancing to each of them in turn.

Wolfram dragged him out of the room, then, going with Conrad to begin making the preparations for a journey and to send word to Murata up at Shinou temple. Gwendal and Günter simultaneously heaved a long, exasperated sigh, and then Gwendal glanced aside at the open door. “Yozak.”

As predicted, the brawny man was standing just outside. He stepped into the doorway, his piercing blue eyes hard as he waited silently for an order. Gwendal aloofly busied himself rolling up the map. “Follow them at a distance. Interfere only when and if necessary.”

Yozak winked and saluted him. “Always.”

  


Murata stepped up to Yuuri’s horse to look up at him. “I have to admit, Shibuya,” he said with a smile, “I’m pretty jealous of you. I have very fond memories of some of the parts you’re going to visit.”

Yuuri grinned and laughed. “Yeah, but I’ve never seen them at all. I have no idea what to expect.”

It had taken a couple of days to prepare for the journey, to pack a cart with provisions and decide who among Wolfram and Conrad’s personal guards would be selected to accompany them. Murata cleared the Maou’s schedule for a couple of weeks, and came down to see them off with everyone else from the castle. “Have a good time,” he said hopefully to the company as they sat astride their horses. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He patted Yuuri’s horse on the flank. “And try to stay out of trouble.”

“Don’t worry,” Wolfram said. “I’ll keep my eye on him.”

“Bye bye Yuuri!” Greta called up to him, having already hugged him enough and now content to look on from where Gwendal and Anissina stood. “Be safe!” 

Yuuri waved back to her. “Bye Greta! I’ll bring you back a present, okay?”

“Yay!” the little girl cheered.

Though both Gwendal and Günter were there to wish them well, they refrained from mentioning the true mission in front of anyone who didn’t know of it, particularly Greta. They had already gone over everything with Yuuri that they possibly could, to prepare him for the journey, and had their fill of impressing upon him how important it was that he not hasten any conflicts or get himself in over his head. The prudent course would be retreat, as always, for if the Maou failed they would have to take more serious action. They waved and Günter called out his emotional farewell as the company turned their horses and rode out of the courtyard, passing beneath the gates of the castle and out into the wider world. Word about the Maou’s friendly journey had gone out through the town gathered at the castle’s feet, so Yuuri found himself riding into a throng of people lined up along the roadside, waving and calling out well-wishes, throwing flowers in front of the horses. The golden-lion banners of the Maou affixed to the wagon of provisions snapped in the breeze as they rode down the cheering gauntlet, and Yuuri smiled bashfully, waving back. Wolfram rode proudly at his side, back straight, a small smile playing on his lips, while the rest of their company followed behind. It was the first in a long time that Yuuri truly felt like the king of this country, being lauded and appreciated as such rather than treated like a bumbling kid still trying to get the hang of it all. He filled his lungs with a deep breath of the warm, fresh air and grinned broadly, waving to children and calling out a hello to the last of the people before the gates of the city. Once passing beneath those, they were out in the countryside, where the only soul to notice their passage was one lone farmer cutting wood by the roadside to load onto a cart.

“So,” Yuuri said, looking over his shoulder to where Conrad rode beside and slightly behind him, “tell me again why we can’t stay in any of these towns?”

“It would be improper of the Maou to impose himself on the hospitality of the townspeople,” Conrad replied. “They will offer, there’s no doubt about that, but the polite thing to do would be to refuse and stay just outside the town in our own pavilion. That way, people will not be able to accuse you of coming in, eating all their food, taking up all the good rooms in the inns or people’s homes, and leaving without so much as a thank you.”

They had been riding for half a day, and had passed through one small town very close to the capitol, but still had a ways to go before thinking about pausing for the night. Conrad explained that they should take this route so as to actually visit a few villages for real before striking out for the borderlands where the rumors of unrest had begun. Yuuri rubbed at the back of his neck where the collar of his uniform itched. “At least it’s good weather for a ride,” he sighed. “A bit hot in this sun, wearing black, but…I guess I can manage.”

“Wimp,” Wolfram snorted. “You don’t hear us complaining, under our gear. We’re soldiers, we’re used to much worse than this.”

“When was the last time you were marching to the front lines with the other soldiers?” Yuuri retorted. The three members of Wolfram’s personal guard riding behind them tittered behind their hands, but straightened up and looked innocent when Wolfram shot them a glare over his shoulder.

Conrad laughed but didn’t interject. “There is another town along the road, another hour’s ride at the most,” he told them. “I think we’ll stop there for the day. We’re making excellent time.”

“Great!” Yuuri enthused. “Then I can stop for a cool drink.”

The town had already received rumor of the Maou’s fellowship tour, so most of the townspeople were waiting in the square to welcome him and his entourage when they rode in. Children chased the horses, elderly folk waved from windows, and a pretty shopgirl brought Yuuri an armful of flowers – making Wolfram glare daggers at his back while he bashfully thanked her. For the rest of the afternoon Yuuri found himself being led around by the town leaders to see all the improvements and good fortune supposedly wrought since he took up rule in the land. As Conrad had warned, upon hearing that the Maou would go no further tonight, two different innkeepers insisted that the Maou’s company be housed in their establishments and nearly came to blows until Yuuri broke them up by politely saying that in order to prevent ill will between anyone, he and his entourage would be camping in a pavilion outside the town. Though mildly disappointed, the townspeople willingly understood and invited them to at least stay for dinner and drinks before retiring. Conrad and one or two of their guards did, but after being generously fed, Yuuri and Wolfram decided to go fall onto their cots and sleep off dinner so they wouldn’t be sour in the saddle the next day.

Several more days passed more or less in the same fashion, visiting a couple of towns each day along the road and camping outside one every night, until the towns started to become spaced further apart and then, on the fifth night after leaving the castle, the company had to set up camp in a lonely meadow far from civilization. For the first time on their journey, Conrad changed the watch from one guard to two, though he stopped short of adding himself to the watch schedule. They had brought two pavilions, one for the Maou and his fiancé, one for Conrad and their personal guards, with enough cots for everyone except those on watch. Yuuri did his best to make himself useful despite his royal status and collected firewood while the guards put up the pavilions, after which they made themselves some dinner and then sat around the fire until the stars were out. “So, are we getting closer?” Yuuri wondered as he sat on a log with his elbows resting on his knees. “I know Günter said it would take a while to get there, but if we keep stopping for hours in every town we pass through…”

Conrad was idly stripping a twig of its bark, tossing the bits in the fire. “That was factored into the trip,” he assured. “We’ve entered the farmlands now, where towns are spread very far apart, and beyond that is the woodland and wilderness where the borderlands lie. We may only pass through one more town along this road, if we stop anywhere else it would be at a farmer’s homestead. We should reach the region where our rumors began tomorrow night, at the earliest.” He gazed across at Yuuri with a serious light in his eyes. “It’s been very easy so far, but tomorrow you must begin to be on your guard. Our escort is enough to protect us from any minor threat, but once we pass into the border region, we’re not sure what to expect. People may be welcoming, or wary…”

“Or they may be hostile,” Wolfram finished for him. “Even if they have heard about the new Maou and his alliances, they may be distrustful.”

Yuuri glanced at him with a concerned look. “And we’re headed for this village Yozak told Gwendal about, right? The one that drove his soldiers out?”

Conrad nodded. “The one you were so insistent upon visiting to see why they didn’t like you.”

Yuuri frowned even more deeply. “I don’t understand. I thought generally, humans and Mazoku didn’t get along. If they’re so close to the border, wouldn’t these Mazoku be even more distrustful of humans and try to stop them from crossing the border?”

“Not all Mazoku are resistant to humans,” Conrad said kindly with a hint of a smile. “You are the champion of that.”

“But generally, they wouldn’t help humans who were bent on waging war against us,” Yuuri went on.

Wolfram glanced aside at him with solemn green eyes. “What about Adelbert?”

“Oh, right.” Yuuri lowered his gaze to his feet. “I forgot about him.”

“Adelbert is a special case,” Conrad said, though with little sympathy. “Yet, you do bring up a point. He may not be the only one in this world with so much misplaced anger.”

Yuuri lifted a frown to Conrad. “You don’t think he would have anything to do with this, do you?”

Conrad shook his head. “We know very little about what’s going on. If Adelbert had anything to do with it, we would have heard his name already. But, it remains to be seen. When we get there, we may find out that there is a lot we should have heard in advance, and didn’t.”

Yuuri took a deep breath and sighed it out, staring into the mesmerizing flames. “I guess this means the fun part of the journey is over. I almost wish I would have brought Morgif.”

There had been a rather huge row at the castle about whether or not the Maken, Morgif, should make the journey with his master, as some were for it, some against it, and they argued heatedly for a full day before coming to the decision that the demon sword should stay home. Even though he was a symbol of the Maou’s extensive power, wearing him openly in Shin Makoku was not the same as flashing that symbol abroad. Any sword at the Maou’s side was a sign that he expected to have to use it, which in his home country could be perceived as aggression. Predictably, Morgif whined well into the night about it, but Yuuri promised to give him a nice polishing-up when he got back, after which the sword’s moaning subsided. Now, sitting around the campfire on a warm summer’s night, Yuuri looked up at the stars and got a little chill to think that he was leaving the comfort of the well-traveled road behind for more dangerous territory. Wolfram just sniffed at him. “You have me to protect you,” he reminded him. “And Conrad. I dare anyone to try to go through us to get at you.”

“As they say in other lands, ‘be careful what you wish for,’” Conrad said with a wry smile. “Don’t worry, your Majesty. Not all unpredictable situations are inherently dangerous. You’re in good hands.”

Yuuri smiled warmly at him. “I know I am,” he murmured. “I’m not worried. Just really curious to find out what’s going on.” He sat back and stretched his arms over his head, unable to stifle the yawn that came over him. “I suppose. Another long day of riding awaits. We should probably go to bed. Ugh, you know what I’d like to ask of the next polite village that wants to bend over backwards to do something nice for the Maou?” He winked and wagged a finger at Wolfram. “A bath!”

Conrad laughed. “I’m sure by now we all smell like horses.”

“Speak for yourself,” Wolfram said smartly. “Fine, the next cold river we have to cross, I’ll push you in. That should clean you up nicely.”

“Wolfram!”

“Yes,” Conrad sighed, “perhaps it is time for the Maou to go to bed. Before he says anything else to provoke his fiancé.”

  


Unfortunately, the sole village the Maou’s company passed through the following day did not have the means to provide him a bath while he was relaxing and saying hello to his subjects, but Conrad promised to camp that night near a body of water big enough to swim in. The townspeople here had not gotten wind of the Maou’s coming, but they were not ill-disposed towards his presence. One of the town elders gladly sat down to lunch with the Maou and his two counselors, to talk in broader terms about Shin Makoku and peace for all people, as well as any local concerns the town might have. “Well, I’m pleased to say that we have no real complaints,” the elder assured them as they lingered over tea. “We are far enough out from the bigger cities that the troubles of war and politics generally don’t make their way to us. As long as the roads are clear of bandits and trade runs normally, we keep quiet and expect others to do the same.”

Conrad folded his hands together on the table. “Then, if there were any trouble anywhere near your town, you would be the first to be aware of it.”

“If it disrupted the peace here, probably,” the elder said. “But we don’t pry into other people’s business as a rule. I may not like the way some mayors or elders run their towns, but as long as it doesn’t affect my people’s daily lives, I’m not bothered.”

“Yet, if there was any kind of unrest in any nearby town, it could be affecting you without you even realizing it,” Yuuri said with uncommon insight. “Concern for people’s lives doesn’t stop at your borders. I know I don’t stop thinking about making things peaceful for all people when I reach the border of Shin Makoku,” he said softly. “I can’t. My brain doesn’t just turn off when I look at people who live in other countries, who technically aren’t subject to me. I still want them to have a peaceful life without worrying about wars.”

The town elder blinked at him, realizing he had just been chastened. But before he could say anything, Yuuri lifted his head and gave a short laugh. “At least, that’s what I want. Actually doing anything about it is turning out to be a lot harder in practice. People have to want to listen to you before they’ll do something you ask them to.”

The elder smiled. “They say Your Majesty is an uncommon youth with an uncommon view of the world. I think I know what they mean by that.” His loyalty won over, he sat forward with his arms on the table and his gaze directed humbly downward to his teacup. “We have had some reports of a general discontent coming from some villages closer to the border. Nothing has happened to our town, but north of here, there was news last week of humans passing through on some clandestine journey. They tried to keep a low profile, but when someone got wind of them in a tavern, they caused a ruckus and escaped in the chaos. Nothing like that has happened here,” he repeated himself for emphasis. “My town is peaceful, and we give no place to human spies.”

Conrad peered at him. “What makes you think humans passing through might be spies?”

“What else would they be?” The elder gave him a hard look. “Rugged-looking men in concealing cloaks, the kind who look as though they know how to use a sword more than a plow? These are no tourists, Sir Weller.”

“I see.”

“What if they were refugees?” Yuuri wondered, more of his companions than the town elder. “Or…or deserters from an army or something? Didn’t Gwendal say something about a lot of the soldiers from Big Shimaron deserting and trying to make their way back home?”

“Then they would be in their home countries, not ours,” Wolfram corrected him sharply.

“Still…I want to give anyone the benefit of the doubt,” Yuuri complained. “At least until they’ve showed themselves for their true colors. Thank you,” he added to the elder across from him. “You’ve been a big help to us.”

“So you’re heading even closer to the border?” The elder shook his head warily. “Your Majesty, those lands are wild. People who don’t exactly fit into the life of order, tranquility, and abiding the law can find a home there. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear that those are the sort who are letting spies from human countries into our midst. There are some deep-seated passions out here in the wilderlands.” He gave Yuuri the sort of stare that made the young king twitch uncomfortably. “Perhaps in the bigger cities people have been quick to embrace the new king, but out here…they don’t forget things easily. A new Maou wouldn’t mean a thing to some of these ruffians. They still nurse some old grudges from the past two or three Maous.” He then gave Conrad a look that was hard to read. “A lot of people from this part of the country were drafted into the last big war, twenty years ago. Most of them didn’t come home. Frontier folks don’t just forget about that because someone new is on the throne in Blood Pledge Castle.”

Conrad held his gaze for a moment, but when he spoke again, he had changed the subject completely. “These mountainous areas further down the road must be difficult to travel,” he commented. “It must take time for news to pass between villages, if it does at all. Sometimes, people choose to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.”

“This is true,” the elder conceded. “But the longer they stay isolated, the deeper their prejudices become.”

Conrad nodded slowly. Yuuri looked back and forth between them, guessing that he had just missed something. “So, uhh…” he tried to break in. “Where can a guy go around here to get a hot bath?” Beside him, Wolfram just clapped a hand to his forehead and winced.

The company rode further on from there, finding that the roads were far less maintained and even far less traveled as they made their way into the foothills of the mountains. Conrad had the map, and directed them to keep on a certain road that would take them to their intended target by a slightly less direct route. It meant they would get to it later in the day, the next day, but it allowed for a stop at a rushing mountain river overnight so Yuuri could bathe to his heart’s content. The others set up camp while Wolfram personally oversaw to Yuuri’s safety, no matter how much the Maou protested that he didn’t need anyone watching him bathe. Wolfram stood on the bank of the river, arms folded, a wicked smirk on his lips as Yuuri eyed him from waist-deep in the river. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before,” the blond nobleman reasoned. “I do rather often. You never seem to have a problem with it.”

“I didn’t know I had reason to be embarrassed around other guys,” Yuuri grumbled to himself. “Gah, I wanted a _hot_ bath! This water is cold!”

Wolfram reached to his throat and undid his cravat, loosening his collar and making to take off his jacket. “You’re the one who wanted the bath,” he reminded Yuuri. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Yuuri harrumphed and turned to glare at him, only then noticing what he was doing. “Hey, what’s up with that?” he cried. “Wolfram! What are you doing?”

“For once, I think you have a reasonable idea.” Wolfram stripped off his jacket and hung it over the same branch that was holding Yuuri’s black uniform coat, and then draped his white undershirt next to it. “It would be nice to fall asleep next to you in the pavilion tonight without the reek of horse covering both of us.”

Yuuri heaved a put-upon sigh and turned back around as Wolfram finished undressing, laying his sword on the bank within reach just in case. “Fine,” the young king grumbled, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s really cold in here.”

“Wimp,” Wolfram scoffed. “You’re just sore because it’s not a hot bath at a spring like…” He stepped one foot into the water, and immediately clenched his jaw shut at the icy chill that rippled through his body. “Cold! Cold!”

Yuuri threw back his head and laughed loudly in revenge, making Wolfram growl and attempt to prove that he wouldn’t be made the wimp in this case by wading fully into the water no matter how badly the cold jolted his body and made him shrink. Yuuri was still laughing, so Wolfram’s only recourse was to splash him, eliciting a yelp and a growl and splashing back. Conrad took a break from setting up the pavilions to check on them, and upon finding that they were yelping out of fun rather than danger, smiled to himself and decided it would be wise if he let them have their privacy.

Eventually, the boys tired of fighting and settled for dunking their heads under the rushing water and scrubbing up quickly with the soap gleaned from the camp cook set that wouldn’t foul the river. Before too long they were back in their long-sleeved coats and huddled up close to the fire to warm themselves, trembling and flicking back damp strands of hair from their eyes while they waited for supper to cook. One of Wolfram’s three personal guards was proving himself quite the chef on this trip, so they let him handle the duty while the others worked out a watch shift. Yuuri glanced up when he heard Conrad say something about his turn. “You’re going to stand guard, now?” he wondered.

Conrad gave him a brief glance. “We’re in the wilderlands now,” he replied simply. “It’s better to be safe than caught unprepared. If there are any spies, thieves, or other ruffians lurking around these woods, they’ll attack first and ask questions later, they won’t know and won’t care that you’re the Maou.”

“Got it.” Yuuri returned his face to the rosy glow of the fire, holding his hands out as far as he could to feel the heat. Wolfram huddled up next to him, having thrown a blanket over them both, and for once, Yuuri didn’t protest. Warmth was warmth. It was certainly the best of situations for Wolfram, who leaned against him with his head on Yuuri’s shoulder, a soft little smile on his lips and his eyes growing drowsy as he stared into the fire. They would have to move eventually, when the food was ready and then to go to bed later, but for now, it was a nice place to be.

  


Deep in the woods far from the road, a lone traveler sat beside a tiny campfire, wrapped in a thick cloak with a hood that he kept thrown over his head for warmth. He carried almost no gear with him, just the barest goods for survival in his saddle bags, but his sheer hulking size was enough to make any potential bandit or highwayman think twice about accosting him in search of riches. Yet, the traveler didn’t fear for his safety at all. Even these woods so far from civilization were not dangerous, at least not for someone like him. Still, he remained sitting awake with his back against a tree, staring into the campfire with his ears alert for unusual sounds until the fire began to burn down and he considered curling up to sleep. He must have been nodding off already, for he suddenly became aware that there was someone else sitting across the fire from him. He sat up sharply, and in a lightning-quick movement, had drawn the sword lying concealed at his side and thrust it across the fire to threaten his visitor. Only then did he realize who it was. The brawny figure on the other side sat with his arms resting on his knees, not flinching a muscle at the sudden threat pointed in his face. In fact, he didn’t even lose his sly little smirk. “Your reflexes aren’t what they used to be, old man,” he said almost jovially, but with an underlying note of threat.

The traveler sat back a little, but didn’t lower his big broadsword. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Yozak stretched and laced his hands together behind his head, looking like he was ready to lean back against the nearest tree and prop his feet up on a log. “You and I are following almost the same path. It wasn’t hard. You’re such a big target…Adelbert.”

The big blond Mazoku pulled the hood off his head, glaring seethingly at the intruder. “So you did know. Give me one reason not to thrust out and take your head off where you sit.”

Yozak still grinned lazily at him, not worried at all. He heaved a big sigh and lowered his hands back onto his knees. “You seem to have me mistaken for someone who wants to do you harm. I admit, we do still have a score to settle…” A hungry look flashed through his icy blue eyes. “But I’m not here about that. I just couldn’t let you follow the Maou a minute longer without knowing why.”

Adelbert lowered the sword, glaring unhappily. “What makes you think I’m following the Maou?” he grumbled. “Perhaps I am merely passing through, and our paths have happened to fall into alignment for this brief, coincidental period.”

“Come now,” Yozak said with a needling little grin. “Let’s not insult each other’s intelligence here, neither you by expecting me to believe such a tale, nor I by actually believing it.” His voice dropped to a more serious tone as he held Adelbert trapped under a piercing gaze. “You’re not a stranger to these parts. Whether or not you’ve had anything to do with recent activity here, your presence is not one I intend to take lightly. The Maou doesn’t need you of all people breathing down his neck right now.”

Adelbert faced him with a lion-like stare, his heavy brow lowered. “If you truly are shadowing the Maou as his protector, then you are no doubt aware that my path is towards this region, not away from it. I haven’t been here in a very long time. I cannot take credit for anything that may happen to the Maou if he chooses to pass through here, regardless of whether I would want to.”

Without acknowledging that this was true, Yozak ratcheted up his glare a notch. “Then why are you following his company?”

“I don’t have to give an account of my actions to you,” Adelbert snapped.

“I think you do.” With one swift movement Yozak was up on one knee, his sword drawn and swinging towards Adelbert’s head. As expected, the big broadsword came up and blocked it, leaving them clashing over the campfire and scowling darkly at each other across their swords. After a moment of this, Yozak disengaged and rose to his feet. “If you plan on interfering with his life in any way, I have to let you know that I will stop you, no matter what it takes.”

“Why should I interfere with the Maou’s life?” Adelbert grumbled. “He has enough counselors tagging at his heels already.”

Yozak smiled grimly. “Then what do you call this? Following along like a lovesick puppy?”

That made Adelbert grimace and growl even more, pushing himself to his feet to pose a more able threat to the sword in Yozak’s fist. “Ridiculous,” he spat. “If you must know, I heard the rumors spreading around the countryside about the Maou’s journey. I only followed out of curiosity, precisely because I do know these lands and what the people are like here. I want to know what he intends to do when he learns the truth.”

Yozak faced him down and raised the tip of his sword. “Have you stirred these people up, then? To see what the Maou would do when confronted with a past he is not a part of?”

Adelbert bristled. “I have done nothing to incite trouble here. I haven’t even traveled through here in at least six or seven years.” He lifted his sword to face the challenge posed by his adversary across the campfire. “Whatever’s going on now, it has nothing to do with me, and I’ll thank you to leave me out of this.” 

“Then perhaps you should wander off in a different direction than the Maou’s goodwill tour,” Yozak darkly suggested, his blue eyes flashing. “After all, you wouldn’t want anyone catching a glimpse of you and falsely accusing you, now would you?”

A bit of a twisted grin arose on Adelbert’s wolfish lips. The barb was not lost on him. “And leave the country’s king in the less than capable hands of you and Weller?”

Yozak grinned back, his eyes narrowing with evil glee that Conrad’s name had been invoked. “Would you rather I rode down into their camp and let Sir Weller know that you’re on his tail?”

Scowling, Adelbert raised his sword to strike, but Yozak leaped clean over the fire and parried the blow aside, slamming Adelbert bodily into the tree with a thick forearm crushed into the bigger man’s throat. He leaned in closely and breathed in threat, “Not tonight, old man. We wouldn’t want to arouse their guards with the sound of swordplay, would we? You will listen, and listen well.” Blue eyes shone with anger. “If you really have had nothing to do with supporting or inciting people in these borderlands, then it would be in your best interests to leave now while your presence has only been noticed by one person – me. If you follow them any further, you will draw unnecessary attention to yourself and complicate matters endlessly. You may not want to trust the Maou’s safety to Weller and myself, but if you have any sort of brain in that blond head of yours, you will do so for both your own sake and the Maou’s.” He shoved Adelbert once before letting him go, backing away to the length of his sword. “I will be watching. If you don’t leave him alone, I’ll have no choice but to blow your cover. Then you’ll be the one responsible for a distracted Maou trying to deal with the sympathizers out here while he worries about what sorts of things you might be plotting by following him here.”

Adelbert stared him down for a moment, and then grabbed a fistful of cloak and wrapped it violently around himself. “You can blame me for what’s going on out here if you like, but it would be a lie. I haven’t been here, and I don’t plan to show my face around here now. That is all you need to know.” He dropped heavily to the ground and leaned against the tree trunk again, as if the entire conflict hadn’t happened.

Yozak eyed him for a moment before putting up his sword. “I would be glad to tell the Maou such a reassuring tale,” he murmured, “so long as it turns out to be true.”

“It will be.” Adelbert shot him one more glare, and then flipped the hood of his cloak back over his shaggy head. Nodding in agreement, Yozak turned and disappeared into the night as noiselessly as he had arrived.

  


The company of seven horses stood overlooking a small town nestled into a valley between two shoulders of the mountains, situated at the far end of a narrow pass that permitted the hardiest of travelers with the daring to cross it to enter New Makoku from the human territories on the other side of the mountain range. It looked quiet enough from up here, with a few wisps of chimney smoke drifting lazily up into the clear air wherever cooking fires were lit. Thick forests surrounded the entire village, there was little open ground to be seen but for the town square and a few vegetable gardens in yards behind the houses. “So that’s it,” Yuuri remarked, standing in his stirrups to be able to get a good look. “It doesn’t look like trouble.”

“Let us hope that it isn’t,” Conrad mused as he leaned on his saddle. “It may be that all the rumors were merely that.”

“It’s not wise to enter such a situation so blindly,” Wolfram said curtly. “We should expect the worst while hoping for the best.”

Conrad nodded. “Aramis will stay with the wagon here. The rest of us will go down into the village and see how they receive us. Your Majesty…” He gave Yuuri a keen look. “You should ride behind Wolfram and I. They don’t have any warning we’re coming, so any attack would be frontal.”

Yuuri frowned at him. “No, I want to ride out front like we did in every single town we passed through to get here,” he complained. “I’m not worried about being able to fend off an attack. I want to show these people that I have the same feelings towards them as I did all those other towns. I won’t be prejudiced against them.”

Both Conrad and Wolfram opened their mouths to protest, but then Conrad just sighed. “Very well. If that is your Majesty’s will, I won’t argue. Wolfram…” He gave his younger brother the same keen look. “Stay close to him.”

Wolfram nodded once in curt agreement. With that squared away, the company left one member of Wolfram’s personal guard to wait with the provisions and the cart horse and rode back along the trail to where they could climb down into the valley and enter the town.

A company of that size riding into the small town attracted attention no matter what their intent. Yuuri looked around curiously as he led the way toward the center of town, wondering what sorts of people he was about to meet and what he should say to them. Wolfram rode at his side in perfect step with him, with Conrad just behind and the other four members of their personal guard trailing two-by-two in their matching uniforms. The few townspeople on the street or in front of their houses stopped whatever they were doing to watch the company pass, neither frowning nor smiling, and began to gravitate towards the town square as well to find out who they were. Upon reaching the dusty open square devoid of any ornament or feature, the horses stopped and the riders looked around warily. No one greeted them, though some of the locals crept around them and stood aside staring at them, not looking particularly threatening but not exactly welcoming, either. Yuuri sat there in wonder for a moment before clearing his throat. “Hello?” he addressed the random villagers watching them from the edges of the square. “Um, hi. I don’t suppose anyone could point us to the mayor, or town elder or someone who runs this place?”

People stared at him a moment longer. “Why should we?” a weatherbeaten man spoke up at last. “Who’s asking?”

“Standing before you asking a perfectly innocent question is His Majesty the twenty-seventh Maou of Shin Makoku, Shibuya Yuuri,” Conrad said sternly. “Your insolence may be forgiven if you did not recognize him, but try to answer him with the proper respect.”

Immediately, whispers began to pass from person to person around the square. “The Maou? Here? That boy? What is the Maou doing here? It couldn’t be.” Hearing them, Wolfram began to quiver with anger, but he said nothing – it was Yuuri’s place alone to address them now. Finally, a middle-aged man with the broad build of a warrior stepped forward. “If what you say is true,” he challenged, “for what reason does His Majesty the Maou come wandering into an insignificant town like ours?”

Yuuri blinked at the man, and then shrugged. “I just came to say hi, really.”

More disbelieving whispers threaded through the square, as a crowd began to gather over the rumor. Wolfram scowled at some of the people nearest him. “Can no one answer the Maou’s question? To whom should we speak in this town? Have you no one who sits in any kind of leadership position?”

Some men were moving through the gathering crowd, shouldering their way between people to the front where they could get a good look at the Maou and answer him. They came together at the fore, wearing slightly nicer coats than most of the farmers and peasants behind them, and looked up at the visitors with wary eyes. “We have no mayor or formal leader here,” one said at last. “Some of us take it upon ourselves to act as a town council of sorts. Are you truly the Maou himself?”

“I may not look like it,” Yuuri said patiently with a little smile, “but I am. Funny,” he added with a laugh, “everywhere else I go, my counselors warn me not to show my face because people will recognize me as the Maou and cause a stir. It’s kind of nice to go somewhere without hiding under a cloak or behind colored contacts and have people think I’m just some plain old kid again.”

The three men in front eyed him, but then one gave a small start. “He’s not joking,” he said quietly to the others. “His eye color. No Mazoku has black eyes except…”

Yuuri dismounted and gathered his horse’s reins into one hand, stepping forward to meet the men. “My counselors and I have ridden a long way to see you. I’m visiting all the towns in Shin Makoku, even the ones so far out. It’s just a goodwill mission, nothing more. Would you mind if we sat down to get to know each other?” He chanced a smile. “It’s been a very long ride, I’d like to get out of the saddle for a while.”

The men of the town council looked from him to the mounted men in uniform behind him. “Your counselors?” one questioned. “And who might they be?”

“Two of the noblemen from Blood Pledge Castle, who help me out with…well, pretty much everything,” Yuuri confessed. “Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld, and Lord Conrad Weller.”

A harsh whisper darted through the crowd again upon the introductions. Yuuri didn’t understand the tone of the reaction, and glanced up toward Wolfram as if to ask him what was going on. The town councilmen consulted one another, and with disgruntled looks at each other, came back to Yuuri. “Very well, Your Majesty,” the tallest of them said. “We will give you audience. But you alone – we have no room for your so-called noblemen.”

Wolfram sat up sharply in the saddle, bristling with anger. “I am the Maou’s fiancé,” he snapped, “you will not deny me the right to accompany him anywhere. Asking the Maou to go anywhere alone…”

“Fiancé?” another of the councilmen interrupted him. “Well, in that case, I suppose you can come along. But Conrad Weller is not welcome in this town even if he is a counselor to the Maou.” He eyed Yuuri angrily. “If you want a peaceful meeting with us, you’ll send him away.”

Yuuri looked over his shoulder to where Conrad remained astride his horse. The tall warrior looked rather disturbed to hear such vehemence directed at him, but he made no reaction to it. He glanced down at Yuuri and met his gaze. “If you give me the order, I will withdraw, your Majesty,” he said softly.

As much as he didn’t want to send Conrad away for any reason, particularly not just because some stranger in some remote town appeared to have a grudge against him, Yuuri knew the prudence of his actions would weigh heavily on the outcome of his meeting with the town council. “Fine,” he sighed. “Why don’t you head on back to the wagon, Conrad? Hey, maybe you can set up camp outside the town, so we don’t have to worry about doing it later. Wolfram will be with me, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

“Very well,” Conrad said with a quiet nod, turning his horse. With a quick word, the two men of his personal guard in their matching khaki uniforms wheeled and left with him, trotting at an unhurried pace back the way they had come.

Wolfram dismounted and came alongside Yuuri, facing the three men of the council squarely. The tall one turned and gestured toward one of the townspeople. “See to their horses, would you?” he asked politely. “The Maou and his fiancé will be coming with us.”

Wolfram glanced back at the two mounted escorts remaining. “Stay with the horses,” he ordered them. “This may not take long.” The two youths in blue uniforms nodded crisply to him.

The crowd in the square parted to allow the three councilmen and their two esteemed visitors to pass through, going to a large house on one side that appeared to be a tavern of sorts. Much of the crowd broke up and went back to their business, though a handful remained outside the tavern to gawk. The tall councilman sent away anyone still sitting around inside and waved to the bartender. “Set us up with something appropriate for royalty,” he requested. “We have a very special guest today.”

“Oh, just water for me, thanks,” Yuuri said sheepishly. “After all that riding, that’s all I want.”

The councilmen seated themselves at one long table in the middle of the room, trusting Yuuri and Wolfram to follow suit. The bartender poured two glasses of water for the visitors and set the councilmen up with their favorite liquors. The three men couldn’t be more different from each other: one was tall and thin, with brown eyes and a wide-brimmed hat, one was short and rotund with blond hair, and the third was somewhere in between, broad-shouldered and keen-eyed, very sharply dressed. “Don’t hold it against our friends that they didn’t realize you were the Maou,” the tall one said, folding his hands on the table. “Most people in our town don’t keep up on news from around the country, one Mazoku is the same as another to them. We have heard some word of you, however. My name is Wallace, this is Ellery…” He nodded toward the short, blond man on his right. “…and Wayne.” The sharp-dressed man on his left inclined his head respectfully. “All three of us own businesses here, I own this tavern. For that reason, we’ve been allowed to serve as a town council. Not that we’re much more than figureheads – the town runs itself.”

Yuuri nodded to all of them. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for taking time to sit down and talk with me. I know it must be a bit of a surprise to have the Maou come walking straight into the middle of town without any kind of advanced notice, but…I guess word doesn’t travel as fast as our horses do.”

“You’re on a goodwill mission?” Ellery asked with a hint of disbelief.

“So they call it.” Yuuri smiled to put them all at ease. “I realized that I’ve been to all kinds of places in this world, but I’ve hardly seen any of the country I’m supposed to rule. I wanted to get out and meet people. This is very nice,” he added, glancing up at the high wooden rafters of the tavern. “I had no idea such a pretty little town existed so far out here.”

“That’s kind of you to say so, Your Majesty,” Wayne said, a little too pointedly. “One might think your visit had something to do with the soldiers we forbade from entering our town a couple of weeks ago.”

Yuuri glanced aside at Wolfram before choosing his words carefully. “Well, yes, I did hear about that,” he admitted. “I don’t think they were up to anything sinister, but I am kind of curious why you drove them off. I wanted to hear your side of the story.”

Ellery and Wayne narrowed their eyes at him, but Wallace held a patient gaze. “Your Majesty is a very trusting person, to allow himself to be led into a town that has made threats against his army, with no one but his fiancé to protect him. You are in a very precarious position, you know.”

“I know,” Yuuri said quietly. “But you haven’t given me a reason to think I’m in danger, yet. As far as I can tell, I’m just sitting around a table with a couple of guys, talking about how things are going in their town. If I’m wrong about that,” he added with a tilt of his head, “then I guess Wolfram and I had better be fighting our way to the door any minute now.”

The three councilmen shared a look before Wallace continued on their behalf. “You are not in danger yet,” he confirmed. “Whether you stay out of it completely depends on you, Your Majesty.”

At that moment, some distance away, Conrad stood on the edge of the ridge from which he and the others had looked out not half an hour earlier upon arriving at the village. Behind him, at the edge of the trees, the guards were busy setting up the pavilions and staking out good places to put the picket for the horses and stand watch after nightfall. From up here, Conrad could see the town square, the people milling about it, the horses standing aside, even the two blue-coated youths of Wolfram’s personal guard waiting out in the open. A voice suddenly intruded on his silent reconnaissance. “I wouldn’t have expected you to take such a big risk with him, Commander.”

Without glancing aside, a grim smile crossed Conrad’s lips. “His Majesty trusts me,” he responded in a low tone, “and I trust him. It’s up to the townspeople to show their hand before we determine whether he is in any danger. That is, unless you know something about them that I don’t, Yozak.”

The brawny spy had slunk out of the trees and up to him without arousing attention from the personal guard. “You knew I was behind you the whole time, didn’t you?” he grinned.

“I know Gwendal wouldn’t have so calmly let us leave if he hadn’t sent you along.” He finally glanced to the imposing figure beside him, standing there with arms crossed. “Is there anything to report?”

“Not a thing,” Yozak said airily. “The path behind you is clear. As for what’s in front of you – well, only you know that.”

Conrad glanced down at the town once more, and then turned away from watching since there was nothing he could do from here. “When you were here before, did you interact with the townspeople at all, or just observe?”

“I stayed out of it, per Lord von Voltaire’s orders,” Yozak replied with a curious look. “Why?”

“I’m here instead of down there with him because they threw me out,” Conrad replied bluntly.

Yozak’s blue eyes widened. “Huh? Seriously?”

Conrad glared bitterly at the ground. “The mere mention of my name caused a stir among the townspeople. I don’t know why, as I’ve never been to this village before in my life. Not even in my travels as a youth.”

“Huh.” Yozak looked past him out over the ridge to the town. “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“That’s stating the obvious.” Conrad sighed and stepped away from the edge, to go and find something useful to do. “As long as I can help the Maou’s mission by staying away from the town, I will do so. No matter how much my curiosity gnaws at me.”

“Do you want me to go down and see what I can find out?”

Conrad shook his head. “Not yet. Let’s give his Majesty some time.”

  


Down in the village, Yuuri wasn’t sure things were going his way. After mentioning their encounter with the soldiers Gwendal had sent, the three councilmen diverted talk away from it, concentrating on trying to impress upon him how insignificant their town was and that he had no reason to think that they warranted the Maou’s attention. He got the feeling that they were trying to placate him and send him quickly on his way for some reason. “There’s one thing I don’t understand,” he said when had the opportunity. “If things are really as quiet as you say, then what reason did you have for resisting the soldiers who wanted to pass through here?”

Ellery and Wayne had been smiling jovially over their drinks, but their faces changed suddenly, the pleasant looks sliding off like melting ice. Wallace maintained his cool, patient façade. “If I may ask, Your Majesty…were they here on your order?”

Yuuri shook his head slightly. “I have someone who handles those sorts of orders.”

“Then, do you know why they were _really_ here?”

Yuuri and Wolfram both gave a small start. The king’s eyes hardened. “From what I understand, they were on their way to the mountain pass to investigate whether spies were crossing over from human territories.”

“Passing through,” Wallace mused. “I, for one, don’t believe that for a second.”

The Maou’s black eyes narrowed even more. “I have no reason to expect Gwendal to hide the truth from me.”

“We are, as I said, a peaceful town, your Majesty,” Wallace said crisply. “Many of our friends don’t keep up with the country’s politics, but I do. I’ve heard about the alliances the Maou has been making abroad, and to me it bodes nothing but trouble for us if we let ourselves get involved.”

The boys frowned at him. “The Maou’s alliances are building peace throughout the world,” Wolfram protested. “It’s because of him that we’ve averted a war…”

“Is it?” Ellery said sharply. “Or has the war merely been postponed until such a time as too many nations have a stake in it, and can’t pull out without catastrophic consequences?”

“The people who live here have had too much of war,” Wayne put in, “and while we’d rather there not be one at all, we can’t stand by and allow another one to be built up around us. Stories from distant cities about the Maou’s goodwill don’t mean anything here. All that matters to us is what we can see for ourselves, and hold in our own two hands.”

Yuuri straightened up in his chair. “Then that’s why I’m here,” he said firmly. “I want to show you who I am, and that the only thing I want in the whole world is for everyone to live their lives in peace. I’ve been abroad, I’ve spent time in the human nations and I know they’re as tired of war as we are. All of this has to stop. But I’m not ignorant of how war works – they don’t want to be screwed over, they’re sending spies in order to try to learn as much for their advantage as they can. I understand that, but I can’t let them do it. I can’t let them do anything that would hurt people.” He placed his hands palms-down on the table and faced the three councilmen determinedly. “You can understand that much, can’t you? That any action that causes people to get hurt or killed is wrong, no matter whether it’s people you like or people you hate?”

The three men stared hard at him. “And who are you to determine what’s right or wrong?” Wallace said coolly. “The Maou is only a king, not a god.”

Yuuri lowered his head, gentling his gaze enough so that he wasn’t glaring no matter how angry their haughty attitudes were making him. “You haven’t said what you intend to do to stop another war from starting around you,” he noted. “I don’t know how repelling a squad of soldiers is going to do that, since they weren’t here to hurt you at all. If you’d given them a few minutes to talk to you, like you have with me, you would have known that.”

The councilmen glanced among themselves again, and then Wallace nodded to Wayne. “We know what the soldiers were on their way to do,” the latter spoke up. “We’re not ignorant, backwater peasants who act without thinking or jump to conclusions on sight alone. We were certain of our position before we did a thing against your soldiers.”

Wolfram frowned at him. “Have you been harboring spies from the human territories in your town?” he asked directly.

“I’ve never seen a spy,” Wallace said calmly. “I’ve only seen friends who come and go as they please.”

Yuuri’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Friends? Are you saying the only humans who cross the pass here are friendly?”

“Perhaps not to you,” Wayne replied. “But they are to us. You don’t understand, do you?” He eyed Yuuri with contempt. “Not everyone in Shin Makoku is like you, flaunting their pride at being Mazoku and living in one of the most affluent kingdoms with the power to crush the humans who defy them. Some of us dream of being able to renounce our Mazoku race and take up with the humans instead.”

Wolfram gave a seething growl under his breath, his green eyes glittering in offense. “Sympathizers,” he realized. “Then why don’t you cross over the border and go and live among the humans, if you want so much to be one?”

“Because they wouldn’t accept us either,” Wallace answered. “We don’t belong anywhere in this world, so we sit here on the border of the country to which we were born, being as that is our race and we are stuck with it. If the only thing we can do to register our outrage at the way things are is to allow humans to pass through here unhindered, then so be it. You see, then, why we had to stop the soldiers from entering and doing their job.”

“You openly admit to being traitors to the kingdom,” Wolfram said darkly. “In front of the Maou, no less. What do you expect to come of it?”

“If the Maou would like to come in and arrest the entire town, and cart us away in chains,” Ellery said with an arrogant smile, “we’d like to see him try.”

Yuuri pushed back his chair and rose slowly to his feet, his hands still resting on the table in front of him. “I think this meeting is over,” he said heavily. “I have no wish to arrest or chain anyone, but you put me in a very difficult position. I’d like to think about what you said, and come back and talk to you again tomorrow.”

“Our position will not change in a day, your Majesty,” Wallace said. “If you wish to stay outside the town and come back tomorrow, that’s your choice, but you will get no different response from us on a new day.”

“I know that,” Yuuri said with a sullen look at the men across the table, as Wolfram rose beside him. “I just want to be able to understand why you think this way. Nothing makes sense to me, so I’m going to go sleep on it and see what I think in the morning.” He straightened up and turned to go, but looked over his shoulder at the three men. “Unless you feel up to sharing openly with me what makes you feel so strongly about rejecting your Mazoku heritage.”

Two looked away, only Wallace faced his hurt look and responded. “Your Majesty isn’t old enough to understand the depth of the pain that the people in this town feel thanks to the Maou and all Mazoku,” he said with a raw note in his voice. “You probably weren’t even around, if the tales I hear are true and you were raised in another world. You couldn’t possibly sympathize with us no matter how much you might say you want to.”

“That’s what I thought.” Yuuri sighed, his shoulders heaving, and walked away. “Come on, Wolfram. Let’s go back out to Conrad. I’d like to have a look around, but something tells me we’re not welcome here, either.”

Wolfram eyed the councilmen briefly before walking out with Yuuri, crossing the square with him in silence. The cluster of people loitering near the tavern as if seeking information on what transpired inside scattered when they appeared, but watched them warily as they walked back to where the horses were tethered. Only then, with the comfort of distance between them and the locals, did Wolfram speak up. “You did your best,” he encouraged. “Those people have a huge chip on their shoulders, you weren’t going to dislodge it just by speaking with them this afternoon.”

“I just wish I knew what it was,” Yuuri complained, glancing back over his shoulder at the tavern. None of the councilmen had come out to watch them leave. “It’s eerie. The only other person in this entire world that I’ve heard speak with the same bitterness is Adelbert. For a moment, Wallace sounded just like him.”

Wolfram gave him a keen look. “That’s the second time on this trip that his name has been invoked. Maybe he does have more to do with this than we thought.”

“Let’s just ride back to camp,” Yuuri implored. “My head hurts. All this tension is bothering me, I want to sit around and relax for a bit before I try dealing with this.”

“Nothing says you have to deal with it.” Wolfram jammed his foot in his stirrup and swung up into the saddle. “All you have to do is send a message back to Gwendal, and he will send in the soldiers again. This time, they don’t have to tread lightly. We know the people in this village are traitors, they’ve said so themselves.”

Yuuri swung up also, gathering the reins and giving Wolfram a sharp look. “I’m not sending the army in to wipe out this town, no matter what they said,” he snapped. “I want to know why they feel this way. I want to know if there’s anything I can do to change their minds, or at least get them to stop being so hostile toward soldiers who are just trying to do their jobs. They’re not going to stop a war between humans and Mazoku by allowing human spies to pass through here – so I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish, or even if they’re being straight with me.” He shook his head and turned his horse. “That’s enough. I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’ll come back and talk to them again when I’ve had a good night’s sleep.”

As they rode through the town on their way out, Yuuri became uncomfortably aware of eyes on his back, and glanced now and then to see someone staring at him through a window or from behind the corner of a house. Even Wolfram’s personal guard were on the alert, riding with their backs straight and their right hands resting on their thighs instead of on the reins as if to be prepared to draw a sword. Wolfram rode up next to Yuuri to speak to him, even though his eyes were on the road ahead and either side of it. “They do seem rather displeased to see you,” he murmured under his breath. “Word has gone through the town that the Maou has come. I think their reaction to it is rather telling.”

“We don’t know anything,” Yuuri said. “You and I haven’t posed a threat, we’ve been very nice to them.”

“Too nice,” Wolfram sniffed. “You could act a little more like a king and throw your weight around.”

“That would only make things worse.” Yuuri glanced aside, barely catching a woman’s gaze before she looked away sharply, and frowned. “How can they feel this way about me? They don’t even know me…”

“You heard Wallace,” Wolfram replied. “Their hatred stems from far back before you were even born. I don’t think it’s you they hate.”

“They hate Conrad,” Yuuri noted. “I really don’t understand that part at all. I want to ask him, but…”

Wolfram glanced aside at him. “Not sure he’ll tell you anything?” he finished for him.

“If he knows anything at all.” Yuuri shook his head again. “But I have to try.”

They rode up the trail to the ridge where they had left the provisions wagon, finding upon their approach that the pavilions were already up and Conrad’s two personal guards were standing watch, waiting for them to return. They saluted crisply and took the reins of the horses as Yuuri and Wolfram dismounted. “Lord Weller is in the camp,” one informed them. “He is eager to hear of your conference, your Majesty.”

“Thank you.” Yuuri headed straight into camp in search of Conrad, Wolfram shadowing him a step behind as always. Wolfram’s personal guard stayed back to attend to the horses and discuss the watch schedule with the others. They found Conrad sitting on a folding camp stool outside one of the pavilions, inspecting the blade of his sword, but were pleasantly astonished to see who else was sitting with him. “Yozak!” Yuuri cried.

“Yo,” Yozak said, raising a hand casually.

“Where did you come from?”

Conrad glanced up with a little smile. “Where do you think? He’s been following us since we left the castle.”

“Ah…” Yuuri wilted defeatedly, pouting. “So Gwendal didn’t trust me after all.”

“Eh, I was planning to come along regardless,” Yozak assured him. “By choice if not by order.”

“Well?” Conrad slid his sword into its scabbard and set it aside so he could give the boys his full attention. “How did it go? What did they have to say for themselves?”

Sighing, Yuuri pulled up a seat in a vacant camp chair and began to tell him everything, from how the council members introduced themselves to their final, disturbing revelations and cryptic farewells. Conrad and Yozak listened without interrupting, their eyes keen and faces like stone, not revealing anything of what they thought of Yuuri’s observations on the people of this distant town. Wolfram stood behind him with his arms folded, also listening in case he needed to interject with any missing information, but Yuuri covered all of it. As he neared the end of it, he gave Conrad a particularly dejected frown. “I wanted to ask them why they refused to let you enter the town, but I didn’t have a chance. I don’t know what they would have said, or if they would have even bothered telling me. Do you have any idea?” His brow knit concernedly. “Do you know any of these people?”

Conrad glanced at Yozak briefly, and then lowered his eyes and shook his head slowly. “I’ve never been here. I don’t know who I could possibly know, or how their dislike of me becomes an entire town’s problem.”

“Well, I’m not going to leave here without an explanation,” Yuuri said determinedly, pounding a fist into his hand. “I’m going back down there tomorrow, when I’ve had some time to think about what they said, and try to talk to them again.”

“What good would come of that?” Yozak wondered. “At best, they’ll just repeat themselves, at worst you’ll make them mad and start a riot.”

Yuuri considered that with a look of surprise before giving a shake of his head. “I can’t just leave with none of our questions answered,” he insisted. “I want to understand their side of it. I want to know what sort of pain this Wallace guy was talking about that’s so deep that they wish they weren’t Mazoku.” His dark eyes saddened empathetically. “He reminded me of Adelbert, the way he talked about not being accepted either in the human countries or as a Mazoku. Would you know?” He looked back and forth between Conrad and Yozak. “If Adelbert would have ever traveled here, or maybe knows someone here that he would spread his same feelings to?”

Yozak sat up and quickly shook his head. “No, as far as the information I’ve uncovered says, Adelbert has nothing to do with this,” he said firmly. “This isn’t the sort of place he would find himself, at least not in recent years. He’s been overseas for a few years.”

“Still,” Yuuri mused with a look down at his hands in his lap, “I can’t help but think that he’d be at home, here. I didn’t realize there were other people like him, who were so torn about something that happened to them that they would rather destroy the world than make peace.” He fixed Conrad with a determined frown. “Everything about this place is a mystery. We can’t just wander back to more peaceful towns closer to home and leave it like this. I have to know. For my own sake, so I can sleep at night.”

Conrad held his gaze and relented with the slightest nod. “If that is your Majesty’s wish. We don’t have to leave right away. But I would caution you not to let it go more than one more day here.” His eyes also saddened, as he understood the young king’s tender heart. “There is only so much you can do, in talking to them and trying to get to know them. If they still refuse to change, or give an account of themselves, you have to let it go.”

“I know,” Yuuri murmured morosely. “One more day. That’s all I’m asking of you. I have a lot to think about, and I want to give them an honest chance to explain their ways to me.”

“Then we will stay through tomorrow,” Conrad decided. “After that, no matter how things turn out, we must move on, your Majesty.”

“All right. I understand.” Yuuri sighed and kneaded his fingers at his temples. “All this thinking is giving me a major headache. I think I’m going to lie down until dinnertime.”

“Your cots are set up in the pavilion,” Conrad said with a nod toward the tent behind them. “Everything is taken care of here, you should get some rest.”

Yuuri got up and wandered into the tent, but Wolfram did not follow him for once. The two older men looked up at him. “Is there anything he missed?” Conrad asked his younger half-brother quietly.

“No. That is everything that happened.” Wolfram folded his arms and frowned in annoyance. “These people, their attitude is confusing. I don’t understand how they can speak out against war and then aid our enemy in carrying one out. Too much has been left unsaid.”

“And probably with reason, at least in their eyes,” Yozak said. “They don’t yet realize how much more smoothly everything would go if they were just a little more forthcoming.”

“Not always,” Conrad warned. “Sometimes, the secrets we keep are best left unsaid, lest they make things worse between people. Unfortunately, right now we don’t have the ability to judge whether this town’s hidden information is of that kind, or not.”

Wolfram sighed and turned away from them. “I’m not tired,” he declared. “You’re here to protect Yuuri, so I’m going to take a walk. To clear my head.” He strode away without waiting for further word, passing between the two pavilions and disappearing into the trees.

Conrad and Yozak shared a solemn look. “So, what do you think of my theory now, Commander?” Yozak said with his usual flippant lilt.

“You may be onto something,” Conrad conceded, “but I think it will take Yuuri doing his best to interfere like he always does before we find out for sure just how close you got.”

Yozak shrugged and began to smile. “My offer to place a bet is still on the table.”

“You wouldn’t take my odds,” Conrad smiled back as he got up to take care of some camp chores.

  


The townspeople seemed to have completely returned to their normal routine, Wolfram thought to himself as he walked along the edge of town, eyes wide open. He doubted his own course of action, but it was one his heart burdened him to undertake for Yuuri’s sake. The Maou had been unable to get a straight answer out of their leaders, but Wolfram remembered that in their past travels, he had usually done a lot better going straight to the man on the street, finding someone who didn’t mind talking and didn’t have the reservations borne from their status as a leader. Unfortunately, many of these people had seen him ride in with Yuuri, and he was rather conspicuous in his uniform, but as long as he walked through their dusty lanes alone, on foot, with only a sword to protect himself, they seemed willing to let him pass. At least doing this allowed Wolfram the chance to see what the town was like, so he might have something to take back to report to Yuuri after all. It was neither a poor slum nor a quaint, affluent village, but rather somewhere in between. The people looked to be surviving well, but they didn’t display any obvious signs of wealth above subsistence. Most of the small houses had at least a kitchen garden behind them, some even had chickens or a random cow penned out back. As he walked, Wolfram looked around curiously, scoping out as much as he could. No one came into his path or showed signs of wanting to speak to him, not even to ask him to leave. Then, he heard a scuffle coming from the back side of the next house, and glanced to see a small child fumbling with something by a well, reaching to try to climb up on a bucket in order to peer into the water. Wolfram looked with alarm as he realized the little boy was too short and would either fall onto the ground or worse, tumble into the well, the way he was flailing and grabbing for the well pump to steady himself. No one else appeared to have noticed, so Wolfram left the lane and started towards the child. “Hey,” he called out, “you should be careful. It’s not good to play around wells…”

The kid gave no sign of hearing him, grunting and gasping as he tried to pull himself up on the lip of the well and look down into it. The only way he could do so was to push off from the bucket, and started to bounce on the tips of his toes in preparation. Wolfram gave a start and ran towards him. “Hey! Don’t do that! Stop!”

The boy lost his balance and gave a cry as he scrabbled at the lip of the well, but in seconds Wolfram was there to grab him and pull him back, lifting him bodily away from the well and depositing him safely on the ground. Just then, a woman ran out from the house. “Russell!” she cried. “What are you doing?”

The little boy ignored the young man who had just saved him and ran back towards the well. “My bunny!” he wailed. “My bunny fell in the well!”

Wolfram lunged to catch him before he could climb up on the edge of the well again. “Don’t! You’ll fall in after him.”

The woman caught up her child and held him back. “Thank you,” she said breathlessly to Wolfram. “I only had my back turned for a second and he was almost in the well. I wouldn’t have reached him in time. You saved him.”

Wolfram nodded curtly. “Yes, but…I didn’t see a rabbit go in the well. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s just his doll,” the woman assured. “I’m sure we’ll be able to dredge it out, but it’ll be a soggy mess when we do.” She turned the boy around and made him face her as she knelt with him. “How many times have I told you? The well is not a place for you to play!”

“But bunny was thirsty,” the boy complained, on the verge of sobbing.

“Yes, well now he’s thirsty and wet,” his mother sighed, standing up and giving him a little swat on the behind. “Go inside, now, and wash up. You’re covered in dirt. It will be dinnertime soon.” The boy whimpered, but did as he was told. The woman then turned to Wolfram, clasping her hands together before her. “Thank you, sir. It was fortunate you came along just when you did. You…” She cocked her head curiously. “You’re one of the noblemen who rode in with the Maou earlier, are you not?”

Wolfram gave another nod. “I am the Maou’s fiancé.”

“Ah.” The woman looked around quickly. “But…you’re here alone? You’re not with him?”

“He isn’t feeling well,” Wolfram tried to explain. “I thought I would take a walk on my own and explore while he rests. We didn’t learn very much from the town council earlier.”

“I’m afraid I’m just a simple peasant woman,” the lady said demurely, “I don’t understand how these matters of royalty and leaders are supposed to go. I’m sorry the Maou isn’t well…I hope he gets better.”

Wolfram observed her keenly and figured this was his best shot, if he chose his words carefully. “It’s nothing, really,” he said, “just…the Maou is a bit of a wimp. He has a gentle heart that gets broken easily.” He looked away, towards the center of town some blocks away from them. “He did his best to learn about this town and what the people in it are like, but all he got was cryptic words and half-truths meant to put him off. It worries him. He would befriend every last person in the kingdom – no, the world – if he could, and he thinks all he has to do is meet them and they will be his friend.”

The woman smiled faintly. “That’s supposed to be a virtue of character, not a flaw,” she said wisely. “It’s too bad it doesn’t work that way.”

“Indeed.” Wolfram gave her a gentle look. “I know what hurts him the most is seeing someone in pain, and not being able to help or heal them. I love him, but he’s so dense sometimes. He can’t heal every last person in the world, and some hurts go beyond his means to heal in the first place.”

The woman lowered her eyes. “Yes, I know. Many people here in our town are hurt that deeply. I’m sure the Maou would heal it if he could, but it may be beyond his means.”

Wolfram took a step closer and leaned on the side of the well, trying to look casual instead of confrontational for once. “Can you tell me, what hurt do these people nurse that makes them act out against the Maou like this? If it’s not too personal for me to ask,” he added politely.

The woman shook her head. “I’m not one of those, necessarily,” she explained, “I haven’t lived here my whole life like many of them. I only moved here in the last ten years, from a place much closer to the border with Big Shimaron. But we all have our reasons for being here.” She looked away, as if gazing to the mountain peaks in the distance. “I’m just so tired of war. We all are. I came here because I thought it was more peaceful than anywhere else in the kingdom, what with little conflicts stirring between Shin Makoku and the human countries all the time. A lot of those here were scarred by the big war about twenty years ago, physically and emotionally. I understand there was some kind of huge battle not far from here, where all but two men died, and most of those who did were from here and other neighboring villages that have since vanished. It was a decisive battle that turned the tide of the war for Shin Makoku, but the cost was too great to bear. So many people here lost sons, fathers, husbands, and brothers in that battle, and to this day they still bear their anger openly.”

“A decisive battle not far from here?” Wolfram wondered. “I confess I was only a child then, I had nothing to do with the war except to watch it enviously from where I grew up.” Then, it hit him. He may not have looked much at the map, but he knew roughly where in the kingdom he was. A battle like that where only two men survived? _Rutenberg?_ He stared at the woman in wonder. “Is that what made them act so hostile toward the Maou? Because of…because of the war? But that was so long ago…”

“Not that long, in terms of our lives,” she reasoned. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever lost someone you loved in a war, Your Excellency? Neither have I, really. But I can understand how that can scar a person for a very long time. Some memories fade a lot more slowly than others.” She looked away again, heaving a sad sigh. “Yes, many people here were affected by it. There are deserters from the army here, former soldiers who were discharged over injury, and the families of both casualties and survivors. They all kind of banded together, and gather in anyone who’s more or less lost and looking for a home. I suppose that’s why they’re so protective of the town.” She smiled faintly at Wolfram. “You’ll have to ask the Maou to forgive them for that. They just want to make sure that the people who came here looking for a safe place to call their own, where they didn’t have to be reminded of the horrors of the past, don’t feel like they’re being chased or pressured all over again.”

Wolfram shook his head slowly. “The Maou is not here to chase or pressure anyone. There’s no reason for the town leaders to be so angry towards him. He had nothing to do with the war – he wasn’t even here.”

“That may be so,” the woman said, “but he is a bit of a dreamer if he thinks he can erase twenty years of pain with just one little friendly chat.”

“Yes, I know. I’ve told him that.” Wolfram glanced away, and as he did, the flash of the sun on the water in the well caught his eye. He turned to look down into it, and saw a dark shape floating on the surface, breaking the reflection. He reached for the bucket hanging over the well, and dipped it down inside to try and catch the object. Lo and behold, up came the stuffed bunny doll, looking quite soaked but otherwise none the worse for wear. Scrunching up his nose at having to touch it, Wolfram picked it up out of the bucket and gingerly held it out, dripping, not sure what to do with it. “Is this what your son was looking for?”

“Oh, that stupid toy!” The woman swiftly snatched it out of his hand and wrung it unceremoniously out, holding it up with a bit of a wry smile. “Well, at least it’s not a total loss. But I may have to stuff him with fresh cotton. Thank you, you’ve been such a kind help to me today.” She wrapped the doll in her apron and took it with her toward the house, but only stepped inside long enough to set it down and then retrieve something else. She came back to Wolfram holding a checkered towel with something tied inside it. “If you don’t mind, I should like to repay you for your help.”

“There’s no need,” Wolfram began, holding up his hands. “Your willingness to talk with me is enough.”

“Even so. I was raised properly by my mother, and know how to say thanks.” She held out the checkered bundle to him. “Please give this to the Maou, then. It’s a fresh loaf of bread I just baked.”

Wolfram was also raised properly, and bowed his head in thanks as he took the bundle from her. “Thank you. I will make sure to share it with him when I return to our camp.”

“Not everybody here holds their grudges,” the woman tried to explain. “I don’t hold anything against the Maou, for you’re right – he wasn’t here. He can’t help what the previous Maous did, or didn’t do. In fact, I’m glad we have a proper Maou again, it’s been so long.” She smiled wistfully, clasping her hands together again. “I actually got to see the previous Maou in person, very long ago. Not long before she was deposed. I had an errand to run and got to see her in the capital. Such a beautiful woman,” she sighed, “but so sad. I wondered what she had to be sad about, when the war had been turning our way by then. Maybe she, too, had some of that same pain that we’ve been talking about.” The woman then tapped a finger thoughtfully on her cheek. “You know, come to think of it…I’ve been trying to place what’s so familiar about you this whole time. You look very much like Maou Cecile.”

Wolfram did his best not to blush too obviously. “With good reason,” he murmured. “She is my mother.”

“Oh!” The woman smiled brightly. “That would indeed explain it. Tell me, does she still look so sad these days? Or has she found a reason to smile again?” 

Wolfram chuckled at some private joke. “Oh, Mother smiles quite a bit, I can assure you.”

“That’s good.” The lady giggled demurely to herself. “I’m sorry. I know it’s silly of me to speak one minute of understanding my neighbors and having my own reasons to isolate myself from the rest of Shin Makoku, and in the next be reminiscing about my brushes with royalty. But I suppose, not even my own bitterness is enough to wash away my feelings toward the Maou. I liked her, I was very sorry to see that she could not continue after the war did so much to tear our kingdom apart. And I have nothing against this new Maou. Please, take him my gift and tell him I hope he keeps dreaming. One little chat on a summer afternoon might not erase twenty years of anger, but I’m glad he’s at least trying.”

Wolfram nodded. “I will.”

  


When Wolfram returned to camp, the sun was lower in the sky and everyone was busy preparing a campfire and dinner. Even Yuuri was up, looking a little more alert as he hopped up and strode to meet Wolfram. “There you are!” he exclaimed. “Where have you been? You’ve conveniently come back after everyone’s taken their turns at the chores. What have you got, there?”

Wolfram held out the bundled towel. “One of the townspeople asked me to bring this to you, as a goodwill offering.”

“Is that…” Yozak swept over and snatched the bundle before Yuuri could lay a hand on it, breathing deeply of the scent wafting from inside. “Fresh honeyed bread! Nice work, Your Excellency!”

“Hey, that’s mine!” Yuuri protested. “Yozak!” He turned back to Wolfram. “You did say it was for me, right?”

“Yes,” Wolfram said with a roll of his eyes, “the woman asked me to give it to you. But I think the other thing she gave me is far more important than honey bread.”

That got even Yozak’s attention. “Oh? What would that be?”

Wolfram looked grim. “Information.”

In moments he was sitting around the fire with the others, relating everything the kind woman had told him through the course of their conversation. At the end of it, he turned and faced Conrad squarely with a pout lingering in his green eyes. “How come you didn’t mention how close we are to where the Battle of Rutenberg took place?”

Conrad gave a start, sitting up straight. “How did you guess?”

“From what she said. A battle, twenty years ago. So many people getting killed, all except for two. And then the townspeople hear the name Conrad Weller and immediately get angry. It all fits.” He scowled at Conrad, though his anger was not directed toward his elder brother. “The people in this town sent their loved ones off under your command, and they never came back. That’s what they’re so angry about. They feel that their people let them down, and left them with nothing. She said there are deserters here, Conrad. I’m willing to bet a fair number of them are only half-Mazoku, or have been involved with humans in that way.”

“Well, at least that explains what they’re so frustrated about,” Yozak said, tossing up his hands. “Can’t say as I blame them.”

Conrad held his younger brother’s gaze. “And now that you’ve puzzled this out, Wolfram,” he said heavily, “what do you think of them? Are they still the traitors you made them out to be before we got here?”

Yuuri glanced at his fiancé, curious about the answer. Wolfram’s expression held steady. “I may know the reasons behind their feelings now,” he said seriously, “but that doesn’t change my opinion. One can disagree with the politics of their country and even despise the ones directly responsible for their loved ones being killed in a war, but that doesn’t give them an excuse to turn around and help our enemies start another one.”

“I agree,” Yuuri said, making all of them glance toward him in surprise. “What?” he asked of them. “Wolfram has a point. These people are entitled to feel any way they want, and I understand if the war scarred them so bad, but that doesn’t give them the right to help start another war between humans and Mazoku. I thought the same thing about Adelbert,” he noted. “I understand better now why he feels the way he does, but I still get angry when he uses that as his reason for helping bloodthirsty kings from other lands try to conquer the world – or at least, Shin Makoku.”

Conrad listened without reacting. “Then, what is your Majesty’s plan of action?” he challenged.

Yuuri shook his head. “That hasn’t changed. I still want to talk to them tomorrow. But at least now I have a little more to go on. If they want to rant at me because the old war makes them still hate other Mazoku and the Maou, I’ll let them. I’ll take the brunt of their anger, if it’ll open up a dialogue.”

The pleasant evening gave way to a brilliant sunset and the cool blue of twilight, and before too long everyone was standing up from the fire and stretching and making to go to bed. With two men on watch at all times, Yuuri and Wolfram could sleep comfortably with one additional guard in their pavilion, while Conrad, Yozak, and whoever else wasn’t on watch stayed in the other. Even so, Yozak did not go to bed right away, preferring to sit by the fire as it smoldered to embers and keep alert his own way. Night deepened over the camp as the fire faded, and only the occasional scrape of a boot on the ground as a watchman paced interrupted the cricket-filled peace. At least, for a while.

A hand on his shoulder roughly jostled Yuuri awake in the middle of the night, forcing him to sit up and blink unsteadily in the darkness to try and see who it was. It was still black outside the tent, but then someone lit a lamp inside, revealing about twice as many faces as should have been there. Conrad was the one who had shaken Yuuri awake, though he eased away from the cot as one of the other men nudged Wolfram out of a deep sleep. “Conrad?” Yuuri mumbled in question.

Conrad placed a finger to his lips to warn Yuuri to keep quiet. “Hurry, your Majesty,” he whispered. “Put your shoes on. We must get ready to move.”

“What’s going on?” Wolfram mumbled as he pried himself out of the warm blanket on the cot next to Yuuri’s.

“Someone’s coming,” Conrad warned. “The watch alerted us to a group of people on the move, coming up the path. They weren’t being very stealthy about it.”

“It’s a rather large mob,” one of his personal guards reported, crouching down near them to share confidence. “They may be trusting to numbers rather than stealth.”

“Where did they come from?” Yuuri wondered, rapidly waking up with the threat breathed in his ear. “Are they going to attack us, do you think?”

“It’s tough to say.” Conrad glanced at the young man of Wolfram’s company who had woken him up minutes before. “You couldn’t see whether they were armed?”

“Only a few were carrying torches, sir,” the young soldier said with a shake of his head. “They were too far off to tell, we thought to alert you first.”

The pavilion rippled as another person slipped in by ducking under the back edge, his brawny figure recognizable even before he stepped into the lamplight. “No mistake, commander,” Yozak reported in a hushed tone. “We’ve got an angry mob on our hands.”

Both Yuuri and Wolfram sat up fully, now, and the latter reached for his boots. Everyone was dressed down for sleep in only trousers and white undershirts, save for the watchmen and Yozak. Conrad gestured for Yozak to crouch down with them so they could collaborate. “How many?”

“A couple dozen at least. Maybe more trailing.” Yozak looked grim but not scared as he faced Conrad in the dim light. “They’re surrounding us.”

“Are you sure?” Wolfram questioned.

Yozak nodded once. “I could hear them in the trees. The ones carrying the torches are coming up the path, pretty obvious, but they’re forming a distraction so others can come up behind us.”

“Wolfram.” Conrad darted a serious look to his younger brother. “Take Yuuri and go out through the back, into the trees. Get him to safety.”

“No,” Yuuri protested. “I’m not leaving you here to face a mob all alone!”

“He’s got me,” Yozak pointed out with a lopsided grin.

“Your Majesty…” Conrad set a firm hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. “You have no weapon with you, no way to defend yourself. You should get away while you can and trust us to handle this. We will call you when it’s all clear, Wolfram will protect you.”

“But…” Yuuri’s brow knit in frustration. He knew he didn’t have a sword on him now, but he had stood in the middle of battles unarmed before and never flinched. That wasn’t on his mind, however. “How do you know they’re going to attack? Maybe they’ve come to…to make some kind of demand or something. Or drive us off like they did the soldiers. We should listen to what they want before we start talking about battling or running away.”

“I’m sorry, your Majesty,” Conrad said with a stern shake of his head, “but this is not one of those times when diplomacy should be the first course.”

Yuuri turned to Yozak. “Are they soldiers or townspeople?”

Yozak looked a bit surprised by the question. “Just villagers, as far as I could see. Several have swords, but they’re the peasants from town.”

“You see?” Yuuri turned back to Conrad, gripping the edge of his cot in his fists. “It’s not like they’re involved with any armies that might have come marching over the pass in the middle of the night. We don’t know what they want. They weren’t hostile earlier today. We shouldn’t start a fight if they didn’t intend on one!”

“It’s no use, anyway,” Yozak said to Conrad, bypassing Yuuri for the moment. “The reinforcements coming up behind us in the woods will get him even if we do stand up to the main body of them. We either have to all run at once, or all stand and fight.”

“I don’t want anyone to fight if they don’t have to!” Yuuri protested, raising his voice a little. “I’m trying to build a good relationship with these people, getting into a battle and possibly killing someone is no way to do that.”

“We won’t kill anyone,” Conrad vowed. “These are our people. I don’t want a senseless massacre. But if they attack us, we have to defend ourselves.” He glanced over his shoulder as the rumor of voices and footsteps on the ground grew louder, and all of them could see the flickering shadows of torchlight dimly appearing through the fabric of the pavilion. “They’re coming. We must act quickly. Wolfram…”

“No,” Wolfram said bluntly, making Conrad start. “Yuuri and I will never make it to the woods if there are more of them circling around us. He needs a bigger escort than I alone can provide.”

Conrad frowned at his younger brother’s defiance. “Wolfram, there are too many of them in front for just a small contingent to hold off…”

“We said earlier that we suspect a majority of people in this town are only half-Mazoku,” Wolfram reminded him. “Especially those who might be coming out here like this to confront the Maou to redress their past hurts. It’s likely few, if any, can use majutsu. Neither can anyone here except me and my men.” He gave Conrad a serious glare. “Allow us to go out in front to put up a barrier to prevent anyone from chasing after you, while you and Yozak take Yuuri and go out the back way. You’ll have a far easier time cutting your way through their reinforcements together.”

“Hey, nobody should be cutting through anything,” Yuuri broke in.

“His Excellency has a point,” Yozak put in. “Less likely to spill any blood that way.”

As much as he wanted to disagree with Wolfram’s strategy, Conrad could find no holes in it other than his desire to protect his younger brother. “Very well,” he relented. “But how long can you hold them off?”

“As long as it takes,” Wolfram replied intelligently, reaching for his sword. “We will meet up with you in the trees. Just take Yuuri and get out of here.”

“Wolfram,” Yuuri said worriedly. “I won’t leave you here, either.”

“Wimp,” Wolfram snorted, giving him a steady look. “You can’t take care of yourself this time, you may as well leave it up to those of us who can use majutsu anytime we need.”

The tramp of feet outside the pavilion warned them that the mob was nearly upon them. Some were starting to speak loudly, and ask for someone to come out and face them. Yuuri gritted his teeth and suddenly leaped up, slipping out of Conrad’s grasp before he could stop him and bursting out of the pavilion. Outside, the camp had been lit as brightly as if with a bonfire by the collected light from the torches of the mob that had just come up the path and stood at the edge of the clearing. Conrad called out after the young king and sprang to follow him, coming out of the tent a half-step behind Yuuri and whirling to confront the mob at the same time. Yuuri intended to ask them what they wanted, but before he could get a word out, someone yelled, “There he is! Let’s get him!”

Yuuri stared, wide-eyed, at the torch-wielding throng brandishing clubs and swords. There was no need to ask, they had certainly come to attack. Instantly, the tent flap burst aside once more and Wolfram flew in front of them, his three personal guards right behind him. “Go, Conrad!” he shouted as he faced the pack of villagers.

Conrad’s hand came down on Yuuri’s arm, but the Maou refused to move. “Wolfram!” he cried, realizing how truly frightening the sight of the slender young man standing alone before a bloodthirsty crowd looked.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Wolfram promised, not taking his eyes away from his opponents for a second.

Yozak lunged through the pavilion’s flap and hooked an arm around Yuuri’s waist, bodily dragging him away from the center of camp. All Yuuri could do was look back over Yozak’s shoulder and fret that he was leaving Wolfram to get hurt. Conrad faltered for only the briefest second before deciding to trust his little brother, drawing his sword and following after Yozak, with his two guards bringing up the rear.

Wolfram stood his ground, sleeves rolled up and sword left sheathed at his side. He brought his hands up and placed them a few inches apart, palms facing each other, before his chest. “Phoenix formation!” he crisply ordered his men. They gave an affirmative grunt and placed themselves in a diamond formation with Wolfram at the apex, pointing towards the mob who pointed past them to the fleeing Maou. “Oh, no,” Wolfram dared the crowd. “Your fight is with me, now. All beings which make up the element of fire…” he began, awakening a dancing flame in the space between his hands. He could sense his men behind him summoning their powers, and knew they were properly tuned to each other and to his order. He glared at the foremost torch-bearer in the mob and cried out, “Kai barrier!”

At that, the mob broke and rushed toward them, seeing as only four young men stood between them and their target, and none of them had drawn a sword. The three guards focused their maryoku on Wolfram, turning him into a conduit for the building rush of power. Wolfram’s spell raised a shimmering golden barrier shield in front of him, which extended outward far enough to cover all four men from any enemy approaching them from the front. Fortunately, most of the mob had come up directly from the path, which meant the Kai barrier would block most of them long enough to allow Yuuri and the others to escape – at least until someone came to discover that they could just walk around the barrier’s edge. Yet, Wolfram was also prepared for that. The first man to push his way around the circumference of the barrier and try to cut back in towards the spellcasters had a jet of flame directed his way from Wolfram’s outstretched hand.

Though Yuuri was still yelling, “Don’t kill anyone!” at them, Conrad and Yozak cut their way effortlessly through the reinforcements that swarmed on them through the trees, deflecting blades and pikes away as they struck a direct path straight through their enemies. Conrad’s two personal guards took rear guard as they ran without swerving, putting enough distance between them and pursuit while the attackers had to come in from the sides and give chase. Only then did Yozak put Yuuri down and allow him to run for himself, but they still needed to run. “What about Wolfram?” Yuuri yelped as Conrad started off again.

“Wolfram can take care of himself,” Conrad bluntly answered, taking Yuuri by the wrist and pulling him after him. By the sounds of crashing and thrashing in the trees on either side, their pursuers were catching up, having the benefit of knowing this area much better. All Conrad could do was continue in as straight a line as he could manage, not knowing what it would take to shake off pursuit in these trees. The ring of metal on metal announced that the first attackers had caught up, as the two guards turned to face the weapons being thrust at them. One fell with a cry, and the other placed himself firmly in the way to battle and prevent as many from passing him as possible. Yozak faded back, then, to take over as rear guard, and Conrad let go of Yuuri in order to have the full use of his wits and balance to fight. Yuuri mentally patted himself on the back for being so adamant about going on those morning runs with Conrad, because it was now paying off. He could feel the heavy blue pendant beating against his chest as he ran steadily behind Conrad, gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to fall behind.

The two guards were long gone, now, and there were still pursuers on their tail. Yozak glanced back when he could hear the panting breath of his nearest opponent, and with a sneaky smile, grabbed for a low-hanging tree branch as he ran past. The branch whipped back and stopped the stranger dead in his tracks, bowling him backwards. Not to be outdone, Yozak called ahead to Conrad, “Keep going! Don’t stop!” and hooked an arm around a thin sapling, using his own momentum to swing himself abruptly around to face the men chasing up behind him. They gave shouts of surprise as the huge warrior suddenly leaped in to face them, his sword whistling through the air.

Yuuri tried to look back to see what had happened, hearing the clash of metal again, but Conrad smacked him in the arm to keep his attention focused forward. It was extremely difficult to see anything in the dark, even with a gibbous moon standing high overhead, the underbrush was so thick. It sounded like Yozak had finally stopped most of the pursuers, but they couldn’t be sure. Then, something big and black loomed up on them in the middle of the forest, forcing Conrad to put on the brakes before he crashed into it. It was a huge promontory of rock, which ran like a wall for some distance in either direction. They had been running gradually uphill, as Yuuri could tell from the way his lungs began to burn and his legs grew fatigued, but the rock wall proved they had been climbing into the rocky mountain terrain all through the forest. Their camp was visible below them through the trees as a blazing beacon of fire. Now that they had stopped running, Yuuri’s fatigue caught up with him, and he collapsed onto his knees, gulping for breath. “We can’t stop,” Conrad exhorted him. “Not until we get above this bluff. We’ll see them coming from there.”

“I can’t,” Yuuri panted. “I can’t, Conrad. I’m too tired. I can’t climb it.” His shoulders heaved with his gasps, and then trembled with a slight chuckle. “Wolfram is right, I’m a wimp. I can’t make it.”

“You can,” Conrad insisted. “Come on. I’m with you…”

He reached to pull Yuuri to his feet, but the bushes around them suddenly erupted with several large figures, one of them carrying a torch which he held high to illuminate the prey they had caught up to. Conrad pulled Yuuri behind him and put himself in front, sword held high and glinting in the firelight. There were five of them, looking a little too burly and well-seasoned to be simple farmers and peasants, and all of them bore swords. They stood staring each other down for a moment, and then one more man came running up through the trees to enter the light, also bearing a sword. Yuuri’s eyes widened to recognize Wayne, one of the town council men he had met with earlier. Seeing that he had the Maou and Conrad backed against a wall, literally, Wayne came up into the middle of his companions and lowered his sword in order to get a good look at his prize. “Well,” he said gloatingly. “Here we are at last. That was quite a chase. But now I’ve got you right where I want you.”

A crash in the trees above them made several men look up, including Yuuri, as Yozak burst into their midst, leaping down from a tree branch and knocking aside a couple of Wayne’s men before putting himself in defense as well, sidling up to Conrad. He had a cut on his forehead, but otherwise looked none the worse for wear, though his blue eyes were sharp and cold with dread as he joined his companions. He leaned in close to Conrad and urgently whispered, “Commander! They’re not after the Maou…”

“Sir Conrad Weller!” Wayne shouted at them. “It was foolish of you to show your face around here. You, the man responsible for the massacre at Rutenberg…you should have stayed far away.”

Yozak turned and glared at Wayne, as Conrad stared incredulously at him. “You attacked our camp because of me?” he demanded. “Not the Maou?”

“His Majesty is unfortunate to be in the company of such a ruffian and a traitor,” Wayne scowled. “It doesn’t matter to me, anyone who stands with Conrad Weller deserves the same fate.” His eyes scanned the rest of the group and settled on Yozak with an unexpected blaze of fury. “You…you’re the other one, aren’t you?” he seethed. “The only other man to survive the Battle of Rutenberg.”

Yozak frowned intensely. “And what if I am?”

“Yeah, the big half-Mazoku with the piercing blue eyes,” one of the others called out. “That’s him all right. I’ve heard about him.”

Yuuri shrank back behind the two men with swords. “Conrad,” he whispered. “What are we going to do?”

Conrad lowered his head, glaring across at the men who had them cornered. “I think, your Majesty,” he sighed under his breath, “we may not be able to get out of this without spilling blood.”

“Please don’t,” Yuuri begged. “At some point, all this killing has to stop.”

“Well, we’ve outpaced our reinforcements, your Majesty,” Yozak said wryly. “If you think you can keep these guys talking long enough for the others to catch up, be my guest.”

Yuuri edged slightly out from behind Conrad, secure that his two protectors would be more than enough against six swords. “Mr. Wayne,” he addressed the leader of their adversaries. “What is this all about? I thought you were a peaceful town, you said so yourself. Why did you attack our camp, when we did nothing to you?”

“You should stay out of this, your Majesty,” Wayne answered. “I have no complaints against you as a person, my business is with these two. They’re the source of a lot of pain in this town, and I consider this a stroke of good fortune. Fate has delivered up the men responsible for a massacre into our hands, I can finally put all the memories to rest by taking vengeance for all the lives lost under their command.”

Yuuri frowned deeply. “At Rutenberg, huh? I don’t know a lot about it…I’ve only heard a simple version of the story. But it was a really bad battle, I know.” He glanced to Conrad beside him. “They thought it was going to be a complete rout, but it ended up turning the tide of the war. Right?”

Conrad’s brown eyes held steady on the people facing them. “At great cost.”

“Yes, at the cost of countless lives,” Wayne said accusingly. “You were their commander, Weller. You led a lot of innocent men and boys to the slaughter. We won’t forgive you for that.”

Conrad narrowed his eyes in a glare. “So, then. What we heard was true. Surviving families and deserters from the Battle of Rutenberg are dwelling here, gnawing on the old bones of the past.”

One of the men nearer to him bristled, his knuckles whitening on his sword hilt. “What do you know of it?” he spat. “Some of us knew better than to walk into a suicidal mission like that. I heard what the army did to them and left on the spot, I wasn’t going to be next!”

“I thought that sword looked kind of old and rusty,” Yozak taunted him. “When you deserted the army, you should have deserted the weapon too. Looks like you didn’t take care of it all these years.”

The man growled and nearly leaped in, but Wayne held him back with just a sharp word of warning. “They’re trying to talk their way out of this,” he said. “It’s not going to work. Mock my friends all you like, at least I know they’re all in agreement with me on this. We all hold Rutenberg against you, and we’re finally paying you back for it. Someone in this world needs to hold you accountable for the tragedy, and all the lives you destroyed!”

“Then you ought to direct your anger towards the armies of Big Shimaron, or worse, to their king,” Conrad said darkly. “They were the ones who sent the troops in through the pass, who killed my men in battle.”

“I meant the families who lost their loved ones in the war,” Wayne snarled. “My only son was part of your doomed troop, I was forced to let him go and received nothing but tears and pain for doing so! It was bad enough they were set aside as a group of outcasts, distrusted by the army they went to serve, but then to be sent on a suicidal mission under the command of an incompetent captain who could only bring himself and one other back out alive.” He brandished his sword in both hands, glaring across it to Conrad, who readied himself for a charge. “They trusted you, and you led them to their deaths. For this, you must pay!”

He roared in anger and leaped in to strike, and both Conrad and Yozak tensed to meet him, but a streak of fire came out of nowhere and cut through the center of the group, throwing several of Wayne’s men back in surprise. Wayne himself had to dodge and duck lest he get seriously scorched by the flames. Yuuri whirled around to find Wolfram charging up at them through the thickets, drawn by the torchlight and the sound of angry voices. “Yuuri! Conrad!” he called out to them.

“Wolfram!” Yuuri cried in relief. Wolfram looked a bit sweaty and disheveled, but otherwise fine, his white shirt unbuttoned halfway and blond hair ruffled by wind and exertion. He raced up to within a few feet of the nearest man and stopped, drawing his sword. Yuuri held out an arm as if to stay him, though he was too far away to touch yet. “Where is everyone else?” he asked.

“My men are still holding the mob at bay,” Wolfram reported. “No one wants to tangle with them. They have no one to lead them. But I haven’t seen the other guards.”

“That was quick,” Yozak complimented him. “How’d you find us so fast, Your Excellency?”

A bit of a smirk awakened on Wolfram’s lips. “I can find Yuuri anywhere, anytime.”

Yuuri sighed. “I don’t want to ask how.”

Wayne and his men had recovered from the near-singeing and faced off again, now having an extra sword to contend with. The leader wiped the back of his hand across his brow and glared at Wolfram. “Using your maryoku on powerless individuals,” he scolded. “What kind of nobleman are you?”

“The kind who isn’t about to let you kill his fiancé and comrades,” Wolfram sniffed. “If a few fireballs will keep you from advancing, so be it.”

“You are outmatched,” Conrad announced to their opponents. “The three of us can take all of you even if we do obey his Majesty’s order not to kill anyone. It’s a standoff. You’d do well to depart now before things get out of hand.” He lowered his head to give his glare more punch. “Killing me won’t bring back the lives lost at Rutenberg. Your vendetta is pointless. Let it go.”

Wayne seethed at him. “I know nothing will bring them back,” he growled gutturally, “but their deaths deserve justice. My son was all I had left, and you took him from me.”

Yuuri peered from behind Conrad’s arm. “What was his name?”

Wayne blinked at him. “What?”

“Your son. What was his name?”

The councilman twitched for a moment, as if offended that the Maou should ask him such a question, but he muttered, “Lukas.”

Conrad and Yozak glanced at each other. “Oh yeah,” Yozak said as if a lightbulb had just gone off in his head. “Corporal Wayne. Now I remember.”

Wayne stared at him. “You…remember my son?” He shook his head violently. “No, no…you’re just saying that to rattle me.”

“Nope,” Yozak said smartly. “I do remember him. He was a good kid. Willowy little thing, though.” He pouted at Conrad. “Got made corporal before me.”

Conrad eyed him back. “You didn’t want to be promoted.”

“Not if it meant having to polish my boots.”

“Shut up!” Wayne snapped at them, raising his sword again. “How can you stand there and be so flippant when you’re talking about someone you led to his death?”

Yozak’s smile vanished off his face, leaving him glaring coldly. “Because I would rather remember him full of life than dead on the field.”

“Yozak.” All it took was one word from Conrad to shut Yozak up temporarily, though he continued to glare at Wayne. Conrad dared to lower the tip of his sword slightly. “You think I don’t remember Lukas and every other man under my command who fell that day?” he asked in a cold, quiet voice. “You’re not the only one in this world with memories that haunt him. I may not have lost my life at Rutenberg, but I lost a great deal more than you know that day.”

Yuuri glanced at him, concerned by the way such a statement made him feel. It was like an icy snake had slid down his spine into his stomach. He had never heard Conrad speak of that tragic day in his past before.

Wayne shook his head slowly. “You still have your life,” he pointed out. “You should have died with the rest of them.”

“Yes, I should have,” Conrad said flatly, lowering his sword’s tip to the ground. “I should have been killed and left to rot with the other outcasts, for that was all the generals thought we were good for. We knew it, every last one of us.”

“We all knew we were despised,” Yozak added. “There was no mistake about it. The mission was intended to either prove our loyalty or kill us all, or maybe both. But we still went.”

“It was our duty,” Conrad explained, “and we did not back down. I expected to die, as did every man under my command, but we still went. As we walked up that ravine in the day’s last light, we knew what was coming towards us, and figured to meet it head-on and go down in a glorious last stand. It was Shin Makoku’s last stand as well, but we didn’t know it at the time. We didn’t know we were about to turn the tide of the entire war and make it possible to reach a tentative peace.” His brown eyes bored into Wayne’s with the force of his dreadful seriousness and long-hidden regret. “My men may have all been killed, but they had made peace with that inevitability. So had I, but for some reason, I was allowed to live.” His voice quieted even more, though with sadness rather than threat. “Only because someone loved me, did I survive.”

Beside him, Yozak gave a tiny nod and grunt of affirmation. Yuuri glanced back and forth between them, longing to ask what he meant by that, but figuring it was better off not to interrupt. Wayne just scowled at him. “Your words mean nothing to me. You escaped, and for that you must bear the responsibility for all those deaths, and all the pain you left behind.”

“I do,” Conrad said solemnly. “Every day of my life, I bear that pain. Because of that battle, I lost something far more precious than my life.” His eyes darted ever-so-slightly aside to Yuuri at his arm. “At least I’ve been given a second chance, and this one I won’t waste.”

Yuuri looked at him again, dark eyes wide, feeling that same shiver in his gut. Wolfram then called out from where he stood. “You don’t have to justify yourself to him, Weller,” he said sharply. “He’s not going to listen. You could bare your heart wide open and he wouldn’t care.”

“What do you know of it, you upstart little brat?” Wayne shot back. “You weren’t even old enough to hold a sword in the war. You have no right…”

“You want to talk about pain?” Wolfram interrupted him, his voice raising to a shrill note. His green eyes blazed like the fire he preferred to summon. “How about the pain of my mother, who had to watch her kingdom crumble around her and so many of her people die? Thinking she was sending her son to be killed in that battle? Or how about my pain, thinking I would lose my brother? Or the pain I still bear to see him haunted by what happened? No one is unaffected by a war! That’s why Yuuri is devoting himself to stopping another one from ripping Shin Makoku apart all over again!”

For a brief moment, Conrad glanced toward him with a bit of surprise and met his gaze. Whatever unspoken emotion passed between them, it left both returning determined glares to Wayne and his men at the same time. “It’s all lies,” the councilman blazed. “You have no proof of this, all I have is your word to go on, and I never trust the word of such a traitor.” He quivered, clenching his fists on his sword’s handle. “If all it took to save someone on the battlefield were love, then why did they all die? They were all loved by someone! Maybe not by their superiors or their countrymen, but they all had someone to love them!”

Conrad bowed his head. “You know I can’t answer that,” he said. “It’s not for us to know why some live, and some die. All we can do is make the most of our life while we have it.” He glanced at Yuuri again. “My life has been nothing but a long series of second chances. If this is Shinou’s way of ensuring that I atone for things like Rutenberg…so be it.”

“Conrad,” Yuuri said gently. “You don’t have to atone for anything. Rutenberg…it wasn’t your fault. It was a war. Things like that happen in wars. It’s totally not fair, but I know that’s just the way it is.”

Conrad smiled very slightly at him. “Always so forgiving.”

“It’s just hollow words,” Wayne accused. “None of it means anything. You shouldn’t have a second chance, you should be with the ones who died at Rutenberg! Both of you!” He raised his sword over his head. “And if no one else is going to do it, I’ll send you there myself!”

“Stop it!” Yuuri shouted at him, clenching a fist. “When is all of this nonsense going to stop? You can’t get justice through blood! It’s just more killing, and more and more, until every last one of us is dead. Where’s the sense in that?”

“Shut up!” Wayne hollered, completely forgetting to be respectful to the king. “This is my vengeance! No one, not even the Maou, can deny me my right to avenge the deaths of my son and every last man who died because of this traitor’s command!”

He leaped to strike, and at the same time, Wolfram lunged into the fray, and Conrad braced himself to parry the strike. “No!” Yuuri cried, leaping in front of Conrad. “The killing has to stop!”

A sudden burst of wind blew all combatants backwards, knocking some of Wayne’s comrades off their feet and pushing both Wolfram and Conrad out of the way. They looked over their raised arms to see Yuuri standing rigidly before them, arms at his sides, head bowed. The burst had come from him, and it didn’t take long to understand why. “Yuuri,” Wolfram fretted. “Now is not the time for this…”

An aura of cool power shimmered around Yuuri’s figure, his hair streaming gently in an ethereal wind. Yozak and Conrad stood back, not sure how to interfere with this change in the power balance. Wayne struggled to face his enemies again, able to feel the maryoku cutting into his very soul as he beheld the singular countenance of the Maou. “What…what is this?” he stammered, raising his sword defensively.

The Maou raised his head enough to focus an otherworldly glare from the depths of his black eyes onto the townsfolk brandishing their weapons at him. When he spoke, his voice had taken on a different tone, mature, smooth, and altogether deadly. “You speak of justice,” he said darkly, “but you have no idea what the word means. Justice is not accusing innocent men of being responsible for something they had no control over. Justice is not served by twisting the truth of the past to fit the lies you wish to tell yourself to comfort yourself.” His slitted eyes flicked briefly to Conrad, visible just over his left shoulder. “What these men did or didn’t do is not your place to judge. Their deeds are their own witness, and there is only one Judge who will deem whether they have acted justly or unjustly.” The Maou’s cold gaze traveled around the circle of men facing him. “I am a man of justice, and will release anyone who drops their weapon and their grudge.” The eyes focused back on Wayne and narrowed. “But I cannot let someone go who has stirred up anger that should have been laid to rest, and attacks a camp at slumber with no provocation. I have no wish to take lives, but for you, I may have to make an exception.”

Instantly, all around the glade could be heard the thud of weapons hitting the ground, as the other townsfolk dropped their swords and fled into the dark woods without so much as a cry. Only Wayne remained standing before the Maou, torn between flight and battle, unable to let go of his sword. He trembled in the face of the Maou’s terrible eyes and the aura of icy power around him, but couldn’t make himself give up. At last he snapped, and with an impassioned shout, raised his sword up to swing down at Yuuri’s head. Conrad, Yozak, and Wolfram all leaped a second too late to parry, but they did not need to. The Maou simply lifted his hand, and the sword stopped inches from hitting it, frozen in the air. Wayne’s whole body vibrated as if with the force of impact, though he had struck nothing but the Maou’s majutsu barrier. While the others watched in awe, the Maou raised one finger and touched it to the tip of the paralyzed sword. With a sparkling ring, the blade splintered all the way down from tip to hilt, and shards exploded outward. The largest shard fell to the ground at his feet, and anyone who knew him could see _seigi_ etched across its surface by the cracks shattered into it. Stunned, Wayne fell back and let the useless hilt drop from his hand. “What have you done?” he yelped. “How?”

The Maou glared him down, raising his hand as if to ply his powers again. “Waving your sword in the face of an unarmed man is a true sign of cowardice,” he intoned. “I will make sure you pay for your insolence.”

Wayne raised his arms to shield himself, cringing. Wolfram braved the chill aura and came up beside the Maou, placing his hands on his shoulders from behind. “That’s all you need to do, Yuuri,” he said softly. “The others have fled. He is disarmed. It’s enough.”

Hearing him, the Maou nodded once. “My work is finished,” he declared, and closed his eyes. The aura faded, and Yuuri wilted into Wolfram’s arms.

Conrad and Yozak immediately rushed forward, standing on either side of Yuuri to prevent Wayne from attacking him again while he was down. “Your followers are gone,” Conrad repeated, “and you are unarmed. You had best leave us now.”

“Some of us aren’t as forgiving as the Maou,” Yozak added.

“This isn’t over,” Wayne hissed at them, backing away. “The Maou’s eye can’t be on you at all times. If not me, someone else will rise up to make you pay for Rutenberg, I swear it. It’s time you faced up to your failure.”

Conrad’s eyes darkened with a glare. “Believe me,” he said in a low, threatening tone, “I have tortured myself for twenty years over it, far worse than anything you could do to me. Now leave, or I shall have to consider disobeying His Majesty’s orders.”

Wayne glared at him, but then glanced down at Yuuri slumped in Wolfram’s arms, shaking his head slowly as if just waking up out of a deep sleep, and realized that if Conrad decided to act just then, the Maou would not be in a position to stop him. He spat a curse at them and thrust his way through the bushes, disappearing into the night. With the loss of the torches and the Maou’s aura, the forest fell thick and dark around them. Only when they were satisfied that the attackers had all fled, the group set about picking Yuuri up and making their way back to the camp to see how events had played out in their absence.

Wolfram led the way with a flicker of flame in his upturned palm, shouldering Yuuri with the other arm, as they tramped out of the bushes and found their camp more or less intact and quiet. The campfire had been re-lit, and blazed like a beacon of welcome. Conrad and Yozak immediately went forward to locate the scattered members of the personal guard, swords drawn in case any villagers were still lurking around. The second pavilion had a corner pole knocked down, and the picket had been pulled up, loosing the horses, but other than that, everything looked to be fine. Wolfram’s three men came forward as soon as they saw who had just come out of the trees, heading straight to their commander to give a report. “The townspeople lingered for a time after you left, Your Excellency,” one said, “but eventually they grew tired of trying to pass our barrier and gave up. A couple of rowdies broke off and tried to get past us, but we taught them a lesson.”

“I’m sure if they’d had a leader with them, they might have done more damage,” a second added. “As it was, they set the horses free, but we drove them off after that. It’s been quiet here for some time, Your Excellency.”

“Good work,” Wolfram complimented his men, turning his attention entirely to Yuuri. He guided him over to the campfire and bade him to sit down while he gave the camp a good scrutiny. “I suppose we should be grateful. It could have come off a lot worse.” He glanced down at Yuuri. “For you as well.”

Yuuri tiredly ruffled a hand through his hair. He hadn’t expended as much energy as usual, but it was enough to make him a little weary and unsteady on his feet. “I didn’t know what I was going to do if I couldn’t keep them talking,” he sighed. “I didn’t want Conrad to have to kill any of them. You showed up just in time, Wolfram.”

The other two guards of Conrad’s contingent were inside the first pavilion, one seeing to the other’s minor wounds. Conrad came out after locating them and getting their story on how they had been sidetracked, and began ordering the rest around. “Someone needs to fix that tent pole that fell down,” he noted. “Two of you, go after the horses. Round them up and picket them closer to the fire. I’ll look after His Majesty.”

Wolfram nodded his agreement to the orders, dismissing his three men to do as Conrad wanted. Yozak shrugged and decided to pitch in with one of them to raise the pavilion and stake the tent pole back in place, so long as his fighting help was no longer needed. Yuuri sat on a log beside the fire with his back to it, absently watching, while his strength and wits returned to him. In time, Conrad’s men reappeared in order to switch pavilions, now that theirs was back up, and Conrad reset the night watch until such a time as the other guards found the horses and led them back into camp. At last, only Conrad, Wolfram, and Yuuri were still up, but not for long. Wolfram combed his disheveled bangs back from his forehead with a sigh and looked down at Yuuri. “I’m going back to bed,” he announced. “Things are over here. We all need our rest. You especially,” he noted to the young king. “You wasted a lot of your energy with that little stunt. Coming?”

Yuuri breathed a deep sigh. “In a minute, Wolfram,” he murmured. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Shrugging, Wolfram relented and wandered off to their pavilion ahead of him. Yuuri glanced up as Conrad sat down next to him, a large, comforting presence in the silence of the camp. “That was insane,” he complained. “I knew they were upset but I had no idea they’d so something like attack us.”

Conrad stared into the fire as he clasped his hands before him. “A grudge like that, festering for twenty years, is going to be violent when it explodes.”

Hearing the solemnity in his voice, Yuuri also bowed his head as he mustered his words. “Conrad,” he began hesitantly. “I’ve never heard you talk as much about Rutenberg as you did tonight.”

Conrad’s eyes fell closed. “I’ve done my best to put it behind me,” he said quietly. “I don’t always succeed, but time has healed me somewhat. At least…” He glanced aside at Yuuri and gave him a soft smile. “…there are some things that make me see just how much I have to be thankful for.”

Yuuri began to smile back, but something had begun to nag at him. It wasn’t just Conrad’s overly friendly smile now, it went back earlier, to some of the things he had said, things Yuuri itched to ask him about. He now had his chance, for better or worse. “I knew it still bothered you,” Yuuri said, “but I didn’t realize how much. Do you…have as many regrets as those people, who attacked us?”

Conrad stared at the ground for a while before answering. “No one who gets to be my age, who’s seen the things I have, can brush away regrets so easily,” he said cryptically. “Some times hurt more than others.” He looked up, away into the night. “Those people who met us tonight are clinging to their pain, using it to fuel their anger and hatred. They have no desire to let it go. At least there, we are different.” His eyes shifted to Yuuri, glowing with a faint, wistful smile again, and he reached to touch the blue stone hanging outside Yuuri’s shirt. “Pain doesn’t always make us hard and cold, sometimes it simply helps us remember that we’re alive. That we can feel.”

Yuuri glanced down at the hand near to his heart, and the blue pendant shimmering faintly with reflected moonlight. He had always been grateful for Conrad’s kindness and affection, but now, with his words from earlier in the night coming back to haunt him, the gesture made Yuuri uncomfortable. “But you still think about it,” he noted. “Even after twenty years, it’s still in your head, in your heart. You said so tonight. It still haunts you.”

“Yes, it does,” Conrad quietly admitted.

“That’s not any closer to letting it go,” Yuuri worried. “You know I don’t like to see you in any kind of pain, Conrad. Even this kind. You should be able to move on, by now. Forward, into the future, by my side like you promised.”

“Yes, I did.” Conrad’s attention was still on the blue pendant, watching it gleam like liquid in the moonlight. “That’s what I’m here for. To protect you.” His eyes lifted to meet Yuuri’s gaze. “Like I always have.”

Yuuri faced him, but something about the light in Conrad’s eyes made him frown. He sat back a little, as if to pull himself away from Conrad’s hand. “Conrad…when you talked about the war, you said you lost something more valuable than your life that day. Did you mean…” He lowered his voice to a hush. “…Julia?”

Conrad froze, and then withdrew his hand. “How much do you know about the Battle of Rutenberg?” he wondered. “Who told you the story?”

Yuuri looked away. “Gisela,” he answered softly.

“Ah.” Conrad nodded slowly. “She would know. She would have told you correctly, then.”

“You don’t blame yourself for that, do you?” Yuuri’s eyes hardened. “Because it wasn’t your fault. No matter what Adelbert wants to think.”

“No, I don’t blame myself,” Conrad sighed. “I feel a great many other things about it, but not guilt…except that I wasn’t there. But I had no choice. I thought I was marching to my death that day.”

“Instead, you got a second chance,” Yuuri said, repeating his own words back to him. “Is that how you see it? Because you didn’t die?”

A faint smile crossed Conrad’s lips. “I have received a great many second chances throughout my life. You’re not the first.”

That made Yuuri sit up suddenly. “Me?” he questioned. “What do I have to do with…?” Everything suddenly fell into place, making him recoil even further back from Conrad. “What are you saying? That I’m your second chance at being close to Julia?”

Conrad’s eyes widened. “Yuuri…I didn’t…”

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Yuuri’s brow furrowed. “I had that feeling about Adelbert, too. When he found out that I had Julia’s soul, he stopped hating me and starting showing up randomly like some creepy stalker to ‘save’ me. It totally changed the way he treated me. If not for that, he’d still be trying to kill me.” An accusing look came into his dark eyes. “You’ve known about that since before I was even born. You’ve always known that I had Julia’s soul. Is that the only reason you’ve been around me, watching over me? Because of her?”

Conrad reached to restrain him. “It isn’t like that, your Majesty…”

Yuuri backed away from him, getting up off his seat. “How is it not? You just said I’m your second chance. I know she was special to you, you didn’t tell me anything other than she was important to you. But I can tell. You and Adelbert both, you…” His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You loved her. And then you lost her but now…” His face contorted with a scowl verging on tears as he realized the conclusive truth. “You don’t care about me, all you care about is Julia!” 

Conrad rose slowly to his feet to face him. “Your Majesty…” he began.

“Don’t call me that!” Yuuri faced him squarely with one raised fist. “You’re the one who gave me my name! Don’t act all respectable towards me like you have to put some kind of distance between us. Do you care about me or not? Me – Yuuri – not Julia!”

Conrad stared at him for a long time, mouth agape, not sure what he could say. Instinct told him to deny the accusation and assuage the young king’s fears, but the truth would not allow him to do so. All he could do was stand there, arms at his sides, watching Yuuri tremble in anger. “This isn’t the time for this,” he said quietly. “It’s late, you’re exhausted from the fight. You should…”

“No!” Yuuri retorted. “I want an answer, Conrad. I need to know. Do you even care about me at all? Would you…” He caught his breath, as tears sprang to his eyes. “Would you have even given a second thought to me if I didn’t have Julia’s soul? If not for her…would you have ever been there to help my mom, or guide me, or any of it? I thought you were supposed to be my friend, my mentor, and not just because I’m the Maou. But now I don’t know what to think.”

“Yuuri…” Conrad stepped closer, reaching out to touch his arm. “I am all those things, but…”

Yuuri struck his hand away. “You’re not answering my question,” he snapped. “Is the only reason you care about me, because of Julia? You and Adelbert both! You’re just alike! If not for her, I wouldn’t mean anything to you! How could you?” He tried pausing for breath again, but this time, the tears ran down his cheeks. “You don’t believe in me at all, it’s just her. Well, I’m not her! I’m not Julia! Do you hear me? I’m _not_ Julia!” He whirled in place and ran off, leaping over the log and stumbling across the camp to the far pavilion.

Conrad stood there for a long time, staring, heart and mind frozen. He didn’t know how to react, as all of Yuuri’s words sank into his soul. After a while he took a deep breath and sighed, and turned as if to go to the other pavilion and go to bed. But standing in his way, arms folded over his brawny chest, stood Yozak. From the look on his face, Conrad knew, but he asked the stupid question anyway. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” Yozak held his gaze with a stony frown, not moving from his spot. “That was brilliant of you…commander.”

Closing his eyes, Conrad started to move towards him, past him, to the pavilion and his waiting cot. “I don’t want to hear it right now, Yozak,” he said quietly.

Yozak stepped immediately to bar his way. “No,” he said curtly. “You’re going to hear it.”

Inside the Maou’s pavilion, the lamps had been doused and night had fallen peacefully once again. The lone guard staying with them was snoring lightly on the far cot, and Yuuri was fairly sure Wolfram was also asleep nearer to him, but he didn’t bother to check as he threw himself on his cot and buried his face in his arms, trying unsuccessfully to stifle his sobs. Unbeknownst to him, whether from the slightest sound he made or simply a sense of his presence, Wolfram stirred and opened his eyes, curious to see Yuuri’s figure stretched out on the cot beside him. It was about time, Wolfram started to think, when he noticed Yuuri’s shoulders shaking. Frowning, he lifted his head and looked him over for a moment, debating whether to intrude. He knew Yuuri resented intrusion on his personal affairs, but Wolfram usually did anyway, asserting a fiancé’s right to know the heart of his betrothed. Very softly, so as not to disturb anyone else, he whispered, “Yuuri?”

Yuuri neither answered nor made a move to indicate that he had heard. Wolfram continued to gaze at him, waiting, until Yuuri shifted and put his head down on the pillow. After a long vigil to be certain he was being ignored, Wolfram laid back down, at which Yuuri rolled onto his side and turned his back completely to his partner, tugging the blanket up around his shoulders. Wolfram’s green eyes shimmered in the dim darkness as he wished for the chance to say something more, but all he could do was close his eyes and try to go back to sleep. It wasn’t very easy.

Conrad stared at Yozak with a flicker of a frown in his eyes. “What do you mean? That was none of your business and…”

Yozak chuckled sardonically to himself. “You really don’t get it, do you?” he interrupted. “The kid is right. He’s never been more right in his life.”

The frown deepened. “Leave it alone, Yozak,” Conrad warned. “You don’t want to push me.”

“Just because it’s tough to hear doesn’t mean it’s not true.” Yozak pushed past him, jostling his shoulder just enough to provoke him to turn around and follow him back towards the fire, away from the pavilions where people were sleeping. “I’ve known you a very long time. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve been through, I’ve been through it with you. I’ve watched the way you’ve moped your way through the last twenty years and often thought to myself the same things Yuuri just said to you.” He stopped short of the campfire and stared down into its depths, arms still crossed over his chest. “It’s about time the kid caught on.”

“What are you talking about?” Scowling, Conrad stepped up behind Yozak. “You’ve never said a word to me about it…”

“Because you wouldn’t have listened if I did.” Yozak glanced over his shoulder at him. It was the first in a long time Conrad had seen him without a smile gracing his lips. “We’re at odds now and then, you probably would have just chalked it up to another disagreement.”

Conrad sighed deeply. “Yozak,” he said in a low tone. “You were there with me. Rutenberg. You know how it all played out.”

“Exactly.” Yozak finally turned to him. “Perhaps that’s why I came to the same conclusion a lot quicker than his Majesty did. You talk a good game, about letting go of the past, but turns out you can’t play it.”

Conrad stared angrily at him, clenching a fist at his side. “Out with it, then, Yozak. What have you been wanting to say to me all this time?”

“Oh…” Yozak tilted his head back with a shadow of a wry smile. “So much, so much, commander. But about this little wrinkle? How about this.” He grew sharply serious again, and jabbed an accusing finger into Conrad’s chest. “You’re no different than the people who attacked us tonight, clinging to something twenty years in our past instead of letting go and moving forward with your life. Yuuri having Julia’s soul in him has only made him the latest target of your self-pity, thinking you’re somehow atoning for a past failure by protecting him when you couldn’t protect Julia. That’s not letting go at all. But maybe that’s what you want…” Yozak turned away from him stubbornly. “You don’t want to let go, because it would mean admitting too much to yourself.”

“You know nothing,” Conrad grumbled. “You don’t understand at all.”

“I understand that you need to get your head out of your ass and stop pining after something that’s long gone,” Yozak said grouchily. “You’ve been so blinded by this Julia thing that you’ve never been able to see what’s right in front of you. What’s been right in front of you all along.”

“What?”

Yozak glanced back at him, his piercing blue eyes hard and angry. “You said before that the only reason you survived Rutenberg is because someone loved you. That’s more true than you realize, but I’m afraid to have to tell you – it wasn’t Julia.”

Conrad’s eyes narrowed. “Then who?”

Yozak lunged at him suddenly, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him up so they were staring at each other, nose to nose. Then, he swiftly bent his head and kissed Conrad, firmly, warmly enough that it wasn’t just a gesture of challenge. Conrad pushed him back in surprise, and then swung a fist at him. Yozak deftly avoided being struck and punched back, catching Conrad squarely across the cheek, sending him stumbling back a step or two. “All this time,” Yozak seethed, keeping his fist raised to protect himself from retaliation, “you’ve never seen it, and it was right in front of you. Walking beside you every step of the way for years. I never expected you to notice, though. You were too hung up on Julia, I knew it. And just when I thought you might have softened up just a little bit, the Maou arrived – and you snapped right back into the same man you were twenty years ago, tagging along at her heels like a puppy, being the tragic hero. Well, now he’s noticed. He’s realized the truth. You really don’t care about Yuuri, you’re using him as a substitute for Julia. What are you going to do about it?”

Conrad stood back holding a hand to his cheek, which stung from the blow. There was too much crashing down onto him for him to know what to say to that, the shock rendered him mute and dazed. Yozak’s burly figure silhouetted against the fire was open and sincere, nothing he was saying was a lie. The fists at his sides dared Conrad to call it so. A long silence stretched between them, rendering Yozak’s question rhetorical. At last, Conrad looked away, straightening up and touching a finger to his wet lips instead. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he murmured.

Yozak trained a cold gaze on him. “Would you have paid attention if I did?”

“Perhaps not.” Conrad could not look at him, his heart sinking even lower. “You’re wrong. I do care about Yuuri…”

“But not in the way he needs you to.” Yozak shook his head wearily. “You’re not being fair to him. You need to let go of him – let go of Julia, and maybe you’ll start treating him like you ought to. Not that I expect you to – you’ve had twenty years and I don’t see you getting any closer to it.” Yozak stepped up closer to him, expecting Conrad to shrink back, mildly amused when he didn’t. “Face it, Julia is gone. And Yuuri isn’t her. I dare you to think about what he said. What you’ve done to the kid’s heart. And to yours…and to mine.” He turned sharply away from Conrad and stalked off across the camp, going to where the horses were picketed as if to inspect them or perhaps take up guard. Conrad stared after him for a moment, his eyes burning, but there was nothing more to be said. He turned on his heel and went to the pavilion, closing himself inside to try to sleep, if sleep would come to his burdened mind.

  


Yuuri stood aside waiting for Wolfram to finish saddling his horse, hands in his pockets and shoulders slumped. He could ride fairly well by now, but he still didn’t know how to put the saddle on the horse, and so he was left relying on his companions once again, much as he wanted to just get up and ride to get out of there. The rift between him and Conrad put a tension in the air throughout camp, making the guards want to tiptoe around them and Wolfram just lurk at Yuuri’s shoulder, unable to break through the wall of silence. Yuuri had said maybe five words since waking up, only reiterating his order that he and Wolfram would be going down to the town to keep his appointment. Not even Wolfram’s personal guard would go with them this time, by his choice, and no one wanted to argue with him after seeing the cold, quiet look in his black eyes. They didn’t know the source of the tension, but it was enough to sense that the Maou was upset and should not be trifled with. Wolfram gave the girth strap one last, good tug and patted Yuuri’s horse. “There,” he said casually. “We’re ready. Yuuri…” He turned to study his fiancé again, taking in his closed stance that fairly screamed “don’t talk to me,” and sighed. “Are you certain about this? They did attack us last night. There’s no way to be sure they won’t try it again even in broad daylight.”

“They won’t,” Yuuri said flatly. “We won’t be there long, I’m sure. I just want to have my say, and then we can go.”

Conrad and Yozak stood nearby, watching but not interfering, a good arm’s-length away from each other. “It’s all well and good, your Majesty,” Yozak said, “but I think his Excellency has a point.”

“They weren’t after me,” Yuuri said curtly, raising his head and giving Yozak a stare that almost made him step back. “We’ll be fine,” he added more gently. “I trust Wolfram to protect me, with his majutsu if nothing else. Conrad…”

Everyone standing around stiffened as if expecting something terrible to happen, now that Yuuri had addressed Conrad directly for the first time that day. Even Conrad straightened up expectantly, but Yuuri only gave him a plain order. “The townspeople don’t want to see you anyway, so it would be safer for you and Yozak to strike camp and withdraw. Go on up the road you want us to take, and wait for us there. We’ll meet you when we’re done, and then we can move on.” Yuuri turned away and went to his horse, putting a foot in the stirrup. “I’m definitely done with this town. I just have one more thing to ask them, and then I’ll know what I need to tell Gwendal when we return to the castle.”

Conrad nodded. “As you wish, your Majesty.”

Both young men swung up into the saddle and turned to go without a further word to anyone. Yozak raised an eyebrow toward Conrad, but knew that all argument was now pointless. All they could do was obey the Maou’s orders and strike camp, so that whenever he was finished with his idealistic errand, they could get on with the journey home. As he rode away, Yuuri thought to himself briefly that he hadn’t remembered Conrad being struck or injured in the fight last night, yet this morning he looked to be sporting a bit of a bruise on his left cheek. But he was still angry with Conrad, angry enough to not ask if he was all right. He thought he knew what it felt like to be betrayed by his close friend, but this reached a new level of heartbreak. He was aware of Wolfram beside him, riding tensely as if desperate to ask him what was wrong, but silently thanked him for not actually opening his mouth. Yuuri didn’t know how he would answer him just now.

The palpable tension extended to the town the moment the Maou’s horse was spotted riding up the road towards the center square. Regardless of whether they had been involved in the mob attack on their camp the night before, people knew about it, and knew that it had not accomplished anything except arousing the Maou’s ire. Seeing him riding into town, grim-faced, with a grouchy Wolfram beside him, boded nothing but trouble. Many townspeople shrank back out of the road or disappeared into their houses. Wolfram glanced aside as he rode, staying alert for ambush, and once caught the eye of a familiar face peering at them from behind a house. The woman looked sad, as she glanced up from holding her son wrapped tightly in her arms to keep him from running excitedly out in front of the horses. But that was all she could do – to step out, to speak up, to even offer Wolfram a smile from where she hid would reveal her feelings toward the Maou and ruin her in the eyes of her neighbors. As much as he wanted to smile to put her at ease, Wolfram found he couldn’t. He just averted his gaze and kept riding.

The town square was deserted by the time the two horses reached it, as anyone who had been lurking or lounging there made themselves scarce. Yuuri rode up to the tavern where he and Wolfram had met with the town council the day before and dismounted, taking a minute to try and wrap the reins around a post until they would stay put. Wolfram alighted on his feet and quickly hitched his horse as well, so he could be at Yuuri’s side immediately. “You think they’re here?” he breathed.

“I can’t think of a better place to start looking,” Yuuri murmured back. “If they’re not, I’m not above standing in the middle of the square and yelling for them.”

Wolfram wanted to point out how stupid that would make him look, but he knew better than to taunt Yuuri today. Whatever had put him in this dark mood, Wolfram didn’t want that scowl pointed at him next. He tossed his head to invite Yuuri to take the lead and step up to the tavern door. Yuuri pushed it open to find a fair number of townspeople inside, at table or lounging at the bar, talking quietly amongst themselves and doing a bad job of pretending that life was going on as normal. They did their best to ignore his entrance, though eyes flicked over shoulders to regard him. Yuuri looked around with a frown, and then found an appropriate target right in front of him, leaning on the bar and casually enjoying a drink with a couple of middle-aged menfolk: Wallace, the tavern’s owner. “Excuse me,” Yuuri said curtly, not at all politely. The sound of his youthful voice in the tavern made everyone go silent. “Mr. Wallace. I need to speak with you and your town council.”

Wallace glanced over his shoulder, and then slowly turned around to face him, looking rather self-important. “His Majesty the Maou,” he noted. “You came back, just like you said.”

“I had an appointment to keep,” Yuuri said quietly. “But it’s not to ask you more questions about your town, anymore. I’ve only got one question, at least for Mr. Wayne.” His frown deepened as he focused his black eyes on the councilman across the tavern. “Unless you helped him out with his raid in any way. Then I have the same question for you, too.”

“Oh?” Wallace raised an eyebrow, seeming unruffled by the Maou’s determination. “What would that be?”

“Just this: why?” Yuuri faced him without flinching, back straight, hands at his sides. “Why? I want to understand.”

Wallace’s smug look faded. “Why what, your Majesty?”

“Why any of it? Why did he attack us, why did he form a mob, why would you do such a thing?”

Wallace’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t speak for Wayne, he runs his own life.”

“Then where is he? I want to ask him.”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t my job to look after him.”

“He could have been killed.” Yuuri’s scowl began to deepen. “In fact, he could have gotten a lot of his friends killed last night. I don’t care how many people he rounded up to bring with him, Conrad is the kingdom’s greatest swordsman and Yozak is right up there with him. If I hadn’t insisted, they could have killed a lot of people and it would have rightly been in self-defense. Wayne’s grudge against Conrad could have destroyed even more lives than he accuses Conrad of being responsible for.”

Wallace continued to lean one arm on the bar, casually swirling his drink around in the glass. “I’m sure your Majesty has great faith in his loyal subjects,” he sighed, “but if you’re expecting me to be shocked and horrified at Wayne’s behavior, you are sadly mistaken. Whether he succeeded in killing Sir Weller or got himself killed in the process is no business of mine. I neither encouraged nor discouraged him.” He lifted a smug, satisfied look to Yuuri. “But I don’t blame him for taking advantage of the opportunity.”

“What kind of a friend are you?” Yuuri accused him. “After all you said yesterday about how this town bands together, how everyone feels the same and you exist to support each other.”

Wallace looked away, tipping up his glass to drain the rest of his drink. “I’m not the one stupid enough to go challenging Conrad Weller to a swordfight.” He eyed the Maou and sniffed condescendingly. “Go back to your castle, your Majesty. You aren’t wanted here any more than the Rutenberg bastards. We can manage our own lives without your hand reaching out to nudge us this way or that.”

Yuuri bristled angrily, even with Wolfram’s hand suddenly alighting on his shoulder to prevent him from doing anything rash. “Rutenberg this, Rutenberg that,” he snapped. “I’m sick of hearing about Rutenberg! So what if I wasn’t there – neither were you! You have no idea what the soldiers there were feeling, what their last thoughts or last words were before going into battle. You’ve based your entire existence on that one stupid battle, on your own feelings about it – not theirs!” He drew a deep breath, clenched his fists, and raised his voice enough to address every last person in that tavern, and any who were listening from outside. “You’re so hung up on this one little thing that you can’t see what’s going on around you, how the entire world has changed in the last twenty years and how it keeps changing! Do you think that one moment in history only affected you, because you knew someone who died there? It affected everyone! It affected all of Shin Makoku, and Shimaron, and me even though I wasn’t even born then! The only difference is, the rest of the world moved on. _You_ haven’t. You’re living in the past. That’s no way to live! You’re so stuck on this that you’ve put your lives on hold, and would rather keep dredging up the same old anger and hatred every single day than put it behind you and move forward. No wonder you don’t care about letting spies from the human territories pass through – for you the war never ended. For you, it’s still the day after the Battle of Rutenberg. Well, I’ve got news for you. The war is over!” He sent a seething glare around the tavern, against which many quailed and turned away from him in shame. “I hate war too! I don’t want one to start. But I can’t do that if my own people are secretly helping the other side. I don’t care what you feel about being Mazoku, that’s your business and you’re welcome to hate yourselves for your heritage all you want. But when you let that affect your neighbors and friends, your people, your country, then it becomes my business.” He looked sharply at one or two men who still dared to face him. “I’m sure news from the big cities doesn’t come here very often, so I can’t blame you for having not heard about anything that’s gone on in Shimaron or Caloria, or Suberera. But I’ve been there, I’ve met their people, and I’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve worked together to narrowly avert starting another war.”

“I’ve heard,” someone far across the tavern muttered loud enough to break into the Maou’s tirade. “About the boxes.”

Yuuri looked towards the source of the voice. “Yeah,” he said, gentling his voice. “The boxes.”

“That’s just a legend,” someone else spoke up.

“No it’s not,” the guy next to him corrected him. “That’s what’s been going outside. A race to find all four boxes, and have control over the greatest weapon in the world.”

“Yes,” the first voice said. “And Shin Makoku is winning.”

A dark murmur threaded through the tavern. Wallace glared at the Maou. “I told you we weren’t totally ignorant of the wider world. I know all about the boxes, and that you have three of them.” He heaved a short, sarcastic laugh and slammed his glass down in front of the bartender to demand a refill. “So much for all that talk about trying to stop a war. That’s easy to say when you have control of the four boxes! No one can stand up to you then!”

“I don’t want the four boxes as a weapon!” Yuuri countered, raising his voice again. “I only want to keep them out of the hands of people who would use them for that reason! You may have heard about the boxes, but you don’t know me – you made up your own mind about me instead of asking me what the reason was. Well, I’ll tell you.” He took a few steps forward into the room, brashly confronting Wallace. Wolfram followed desperately. “If I can find the fourth box, I’m going to have the Great Sage find a way to destroy all of them. So no one can use them.”

Wolfram stared at him. Wallace shook his head. “It’s just words, your Majesty. A hollow promise. Actions like that start wars, they don’t end them.”

“And yours do?” Yuuri fairly quivered where he stood, his dark eyes shimmering. “Helping Big Shimaron start a war with Shin Makoku isn’t the way to end all wars either. I’m not so stupid as to think war doesn’t happen, I know it does. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen King Belal open one of the boxes, and the awful destruction that happens. I don’t want a single person, human or Mazoku, to have to face that ever again. You don’t have to like that you’re Mazoku, or that past Maous have started or continued to fight wars, but wallowing in your self-pity doesn’t affect only you.” He pointed an accusing finger at Wallace, even though his words were meant for all of them. “If you keep acting this way, your self-destructive path is going to spread across the country and the whole world and destroy us all. I came here thinking I needed to show you my heart, and be your friend, but now I can see that you don’t care about anything except yourselves. So now you get to see the Maou side of me.”

Wolfram snapped to attention at that, but as he gazed at Yuuri worriedly, he realized it was merely a figure of speech. The Maou was not about to reveal himself, at least not that way. Straightening up, Yuuri looked around the room again with a hard glare for every last individual there, whether they were watching him or trying to ignore him. “I wanted to understand your pain, and what made you want to fight against the interest of Shin Makoku,” he began, only the slightest waver of emotion in his voice. “I know where it comes from, now, but I’m no closer to understanding. You’d rather ambush innocent men in the middle of the night than come to grips with your pain and let it go. You’d rather help our enemies start a war than help me stop it. That, I can’t possibly understand. I can’t understand people who can’t let go of the past, or those who project their old grudges on new people who had nothing to do with it. I may not have ever sent a child off to war only to have them never come home, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share the same fears about it. I have a child,” he added a little more quietly, glancing briefly at Wolfram beside him. “Wolfram and I…we adopted a little girl. I don’t want to see her going off to war, I want her to grow up in peace. I know you want the same, deep down, but carrying around this pain and waving Rutenberg around like some kind of flag to rally around isn’t going to bring that about.”

“If you’ve never had to deal with that kind of pain,” a random villager interrupted, “then don’t try to tell us how to! You have no idea what Rutenberg did to us! You can’t just pick up and move on from that kind of thing, no matter how much you might want to!”

A passionate flame returned to Yuuri’s eyes as he rounded on this man. “I know exactly what it did, because I can see it in the eyes of all of my friends!” he blazed. “I hate that this one battle so long ago had so much of an effect on everybody! But you _can_ stop living in the past, because I know people who have. You may not want to let it go, but I know people who have. People who were there.” He paused to take a deep breath, feeling the pinpricks of tears behind his eyes. “I know they’re still in pain, and it still bothers them, but they haven’t stopped living their lives. They’ve moved on, and are making the most of their second chance at living. That’s all they can do! They lost people they cared about, too, but they have to move on because that’s what their loved ones would want them to do.” He shook his head sadly. “That’s all anyone who passed on wants – for their loved ones not to carry out vengeance, but to go and live their lives, and be happy. They don’t want to be avenged. They just want you to live.” The tears shone in his eyes, but Yuuri refused to let them fall. The tavern had fallen silent again, and whether they were looking at him or away from him, he knew every last person was listening. “Can’t you put it behind you and live, for their sake? Do you really think the sons or husbands or friends you lost are sitting there in the next world shouting for you to take revenge for their deaths, or blame the Maou or the country for what happened to them? Do you think they would want you to carry out your grudge to the point that it starts a whole new war? I may not know them, but I’m pretty sure they don’t want that.” He stopped for breath again and stared at the floor for a moment, blinking back his emotions, but then straightened his back and faced them with a grim, hard look. “You don’t want me to be your friend. I get that now. Fine. How you feel about the Maou or being Mazoku, I don’t care. I can’t do anything to change it, and I know no matter how much I want to shout myself hoarse at you, you won’t listen. So be it. But the minute your self-pity starts intruding on the peace I’m trying to keep in Shin Makoku, then I have to do something about it. That’s my job. I don’t want to have to do anything drastic, but I’m not going to stand back and let your cold hearts dictate the course of peace in our country. I’m going home, now,” he snapped, his eyes going back to Wallace, “and it’s up to you how you want things to go from here. It may be too late for some of you, to let those old wounds heal, but I’m willing to bet someone here has the guts to stand up and say, ‘no more.’ But I’ll warn you now. Just because I understand what hurt you so badly as to make you want to renounce your heritage and cast in with the humans doesn’t mean I’ll go soft on you if you make things difficult for the rest of us. There are a lot of parents in Shin Makoku who don’t want to send their sons away to another war, and I may have to put them first, instead of you.” With that, he turned and strode briskly out, shoving the door open so hard it slammed against the wall outside.

Wolfram remained a moment longer, looking around the room. Wallace and some of the others seemed unmoved, even though it was clear they had listened to every word Yuuri said by the startled and disturbed looks on their faces. The rest remained turned away, shoulders hunched as though the Maou’s passion and the cutting truth of his words had stung them like a blow. “Bastards,” Wolfram breathed for all of them to hear. “Wallowing in your own personal hell is one thing, but don’t force others to take the blame for it. When your selfish stupidity brings pain to Yuuri, then it becomes _my_ problem.” He turned sharply, giving Wallace a deadly glare over his shoulder. “I won’t forgive you for hurting him.” Wallace eyed him but said nothing, leaving Wolfram a cold silence in which to storm his way out of the tavern.

People had unwittingly gathered to overhear much of the Maou’s impassioned speech from outside, but as soon as the two young men reappeared by their horses, the crowd timidly scattered. Wolfram stepped out to find Yuuri mechanically unwrapping the reins from around the post in order to free his horse, his head down. Coming up beside him, Wolfram was strangely comforted to see that Yuuri was bravely holding back his emotions. “Are you ready to leave, then?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Yuuri whispered. “Let’s get out of here. We have more important things to do than indulge these people in their drama for another minute.”

Nodding, Wolfram went to his horse and made to mount. Before both of them could gain their seats, they realized someone was approaching them from the square and turned to look. It was Wayne, hollow-eyed and ragged from being up so late the night before. Yuuri glared at him. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t have time to rehash everything over again. It’s over, we’re leaving, end of story.”

“Wait, your Majesty,” Wayne said quietly, raising a hand as if to stop him. “If I may…just a moment of your time.”

Yuuri settled into the saddle, looking curiously down at him. The tone of his voice was dramatically different from what he last heard. “What is it?”

Wayne lowered his gaze. “With your permission, your Majesty…would you be willing to take me to see Lord Weller?”

“You didn’t see enough of him last night when you tried to kill him?” Wolfram snapped.

Yuuri shot him a quick look to quiet him. “Why?” he asked Wayne.

“I…” Wayne continued to stare at the ground. “I heard much of what you said in there. I don’t know that I can answer your question…I don’t know ‘why.’ But there’s one thing I need to hear before you leave us. I need to speak to Lord Weller. Just for a brief moment. Please, your Majesty.”

Both young men stared at him, sensing that his newfound respect for the Maou was sincere. Though it went against logic, Yuuri’s heart told him to accept it. “Fine,” he said softly. “We’re riding out to meet them now. You can come with us…you can probably ride behind Wolfram…”

“Oh, no,” Wayne stammered, lifting his head. “I…actually, don’t really like horses. They scare me to death. I’ve never ridden. I’ll just walk.”

“Okay.” Yuuri turned his horse away from the rail, and nodded to the man to allow him to go first, so he and Wolfram could ride escort without overtaking him. Wolfram glanced at his companion, as if to ask if this was wise, but he accepted that it was Yuuri’s call and they weren’t in any danger. Nonetheless, he kept one eye on Wayne and one on the road as they made their way through the town and headed for the ridge where the rest of their party was waiting.

Conrad, Yozak, and the guards were waiting as patiently as they could less than a mile up the road from the town’s edge, up on the ridge where they could overlook much of the town but couldn’t quite tell friend from foe. The injured man from Conrad’s guard was now driving the wagon, and sat in the seat with his arm bandaged up, while the others milled around or sat in the shade of the wagon. Hearing shod hooves rambling up the road towards them, Conrad stepped out in front, eager to greet the Maou and find out what had gone on. His brown eyes widened in surprise to see Yuuri and Wolfram escorting Wayne into their midst. They came to a stop, leaving it up to Conrad to ask, “Is everything all right, your Majesty?”

Yuuri nodded. “I had my say, and now it’s up to them. But before we could leave, Mr. Wayne asked to be allowed to speak with you.” He looked toward Conrad but didn’t exactly meet his questioning gaze. “It’s up to you whether you want to talk to him.”

Yozak had been reclining against one of the wagon wheels, but hopped up to witness this exchange. Wayne’s gaze noticeably flickered at the sight of the two Rutenberg patriots standing beside each other, but he said nothing. Conrad sighed softly. “Well, Mr. Wayne? What is it?”

Wayne clasped his hands contritely before him and lowered his gaze respectfully. “Lord Weller, if you would…please…tell me about my son. Of what he did in the battle, how he died, anything you can remember.”

Conrad blinked at him, and then let his shoulders sag tiredly. “It was a long time ago,” he noted. “I don’t know how much I remember.”

“Anything will do,” Wayne insisted. “I just…have been thinking most of the night, and realized his Majesty is right – I don’t know what he went through in that battle, or what he might have been thinking going into it. He…always sounded so proud of his place in the army whenever he wrote, and even though I hated that he was a part of it, I couldn’t take that away from him.”

“I remember some,” Yozak offered. “Are you sure you want to hear this? It could be pretty painful.”

“I’m aware of that,” Wayne said. “Yes, please. I need to know.”

Conrad looked away while he thought. “Corporal Lukas Wayne. He was indeed proud of being a soldier, even if he was placed under my command in the despised unit of half-Mazoku forced to prove their loyalty. I promoted him shortly before Rutenberg, I needed his enthusiasm.” He closed his eyes, then, and shook his head. “I only saw him charge ahead into the fray, just when the battle got thick. I had already had my horse cut out from under me, and was surrounded, so my attention was rather diverted, but…I remember seeing him charge past me with a rather passionate battle cry.”

“I saw him after that,” Yozak said, his usually jovial voice softened in a way Yuuri had never heard before. “He charged right into the thick of it, took out quite a number of the enemy. I remember because he cut away a few of the ones who nearly had me, and saved my life. But then…” He fixed his blue eyes on Wayne as if to be sure he could handle it before continuing. “One of the enemy’s commanders took him down. He didn’t suffer – it was a clean blow. He died instantly.”

Conrad gazed concernedly at him. “Yozak. You remember?”

Yozak gave him a solemn look. “You’re not the only one who still has nightmares about Rutenberg once in a while.” He turned his gaze back to Wayne. “I remember every man of our company whose death on the battlefield I saw with my own eyes. That includes Lukas.” Yozak shook his head, allowing a faint smile to touch his lips. “He’s already been avenged, you know. The guy who killed him went charging straight through towards Weller, and I had the distinct pleasure of watching him take the guy’s head clean off. Even though he was on foot and the enemy was riding. Work of art, that move.”

Conrad started. “Wait…I think I remember that.”

Wayne’s face contorted in an effort to keep his composure, but he gave the men a brisk nod. “I see. Then…that means he died doing exactly what he wanted to do. Protecting his comrades, and all of Shin Makoku.” He glanced from Yozak to Conrad, and then subtly back at the Maou still astride his horse. “It tore me apart when he chose to enlist, I would have rather had him growing up at my side to join me in the family business. I’m neither a farmer nor a warrior, I sold textiles. But Lukas had such a passion for service, he felt it was what he had to do. I hated it, but I let him go. When news came that he had been killed at Rutenberg, I…I didn’t know what to do with myself. My wife left me because I became too despondent to carry on with our life, so I sold my business and came here to settle with others of like mind, who wanted to distance ourselves from all other Mazoku over what happened in the war. But…I haven’t been fair to him.” He turned and looked up at Yuuri. “You were right, your Majesty. He wouldn’t want me to take out my rage on others. He loved what he did and I know he thought highly of his commander.” He glanced at Conrad and gave him the slightest smile of respect. “I still have all of his letters, I’ve read them so many times with such bitterness that the Captain Weller he worshipped led him to his death. But I never considered that that was where he wanted to be, and that was how he would have wanted to die.”

“Your son died a hero,” Conrad murmured kindly. “He saved many lives under my command, and made it possible for Yozak and I to still be here. I don’t take that for granted.”

Wayne bowed his head. “I know asking your forgiveness for what I did last night is too much, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I have no good excuse that I can give, I can only admit that I am a stubborn, irrational fool who also died at Rutenberg instead of getting on with my life.”

Conrad stared at him for a long time, unable to respond. Yuuri, however, knew what to say. “All we can ask you to do is honor your son’s memory by living the way he would want you to.”

“I will.” Wayne lifted his head and gave Yuuri a proud look. “It wasn’t what you said, your Majesty, but how you said it. For someone so young, you have so much passion and integrity. It reminds me of Lukas, the way he used to rant about the pure Mazoku not taking him seriously and wanting to prove himself in their eyes.”

Yuuri sighed and began to smile. “I know one heartfelt speech isn’t going to suddenly change everything in this town. Changing hearts and minds takes time, but I’m willing to give them that time.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.” Wayne nodded to him. “In return, I will do my best to lead by example. I am still on the town council, for what that’s worth. I know what I’m up against, but if you can be patient with them, I’m sure more will come around. I can’t promise anything more than that I will try.”

“That’s all I can ask of you. But if more spies come through the mountains, I’m going to have to let Gwendal send troops to stop them. It’s a serious matter, I know it has to be taken care of, whether we like it or not.” Yuuri then thought of something, and turned to retrieve something from the saddlebag hanging behind him. “Oh…do you know a woman with a little boy, I think his name was…”

He looked to Wolfram for help. “Russell,” Wolfram said for him.

Wayne frowned curiously. “Yes, I do.”

Yuuri handed him a folded checkered towel. “Could you give this to her, and tell her that I said her honey bread was the most delicious thing I’ve tasted in this world? I forgot about it, I didn’t want to run away and steal her towel.”

A smile cracked Wayne’s weathered face as he took the folded cloth and nodded. “Yes, your Majesty, I will do that. And yes – she does make the best honey bread in all of Shin Makoku.”

“Thanks.” Yuuri nodded at him, and at the whole company. “All right. We have a long ride ahead of us. We should get going.”

Conrad nodded curtly back, taking it as an order. The rest of them mounted up, and with a last wave of farewell to Wayne, the company started away down the road. Wayne waved back, and then tucked the towel safely into his coat before turning his back and walking back to town alone.

  


There would be at least one more night of camping in the wilds before reaching civilization again, but by now, Yuuri was used to it. The rest of their journey would wind back through some towns in a region of the country he had never visited before, but it was fairly likely they would be stopping in towns rather than on the road from now on, until reaching home. The day’s ride had been very quiet, as Yuuri rode in complete silence with his thoughts turned inward. Yozak now rode openly with them, as it was pointless to shadow the group now that he had revealed himself. He, too, seemed sort of distant, but he still kept up enough amiable chatter to make up for Yuuri’s silence and Conrad’s tension. Wolfram was the only one who answered him, though distractedly as he watched the interplay between characters in an attempt to puzzle out the problem. At the very least, he could tell several players were acting distant toward Conrad, who likewise left them to their feelings and just rode like an alert army captain should. Wolfram was intensely curious to know why, but kept his observations to himself and left Yuuri to his own inner thoughts.

A gorgeous red sunset glowed in the sky while the company made camp, sitting down to a rather quiet dinner interrupted only by practical discussion of the watch schedule and the need to shop for more provisions in the next town. Beyond them, cool mists gathered in the low-lying hollows and insects sang in the bushes with the onset of a peaceful, humid evening. Everyone pitched in either making or cleaning up from dinner, even Yuuri, to show his gratitude for Conrad’s injured guard who had suffered to protect him. At last, he got to sit down by the fire and do nothing, not tired enough to go to bed yet and too riled by his thoughts to really relax. The thunk of an axe somewhere behind him told him where Yozak was busy splitting a fallen log into firewood, some for tonight and some to carry with them to their next destination, but the rest of his companions made themselves scarce, having minor things to do to prepare for the last leg of the goodwill tour. Yuuri was grateful that none of them were hovering around him, asking him what was wrong, for he didn’t feel like explaining to them the complicated and painful argument he and Conrad had had. It was too personal to share, too frightening even for him to confront. Fortunately, enough had happened in the little mountain village to allow the guard and possibly Wolfram to make assumptions that it had to do with that issue. For now, everyone left Yuuri to himself by the fire, where he sat staring into the flames, his mind wandering aimlessly from Conrad’s past to his own future and randomly wondering if Wolfram could just use fire spells to start the campfire instead of Yozak breaking out the flint and tinder. Then, he heard the soft voice he most dreaded intruding on his rambling thoughts. “Yuuri…”

“I’m sorry, Conrad,” Yuuri immediately interrupted him, keeping his head down and his eyes focused on the depths of the campfire. “I’d kind of like to be alone right now.”

Conrad stood behind him, gazing helplessly down at him. “Is there nothing I can say that will bring a smile back to your face?” he murmured.

Yuuri shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Sighing, Conrad turned away, not wanting to leave but guessing that no amount of cajoling would snap Yuuri out of his melancholy right now. He started back towards the pavilion, but then he heard, “Oi, commander,” called out to him from the edge of the trees. He glanced to see Yozak standing with the axe over his shoulder, his eyes hard but not angry. He tossed his ginger-haired head to invite Conrad to come closer so they could speak. Conrad reluctantly did so, glancing back at Yuuri’s slender figure hunched by the fire. The axe thudded into the tree stump at Yozak’s feet, and he leaned on the handle, lowering his voice to a murmur. “Don’t,” he said. “Leave him be.”

“Yozak,” Conrad complained. “You’ve seen the way he’s been acting all day. It’s my fault. I’ve hurt him.”

“And what could you possibly say right now to make it better?” Yozak frowned at him. “I’m afraid that this time, it isn’t going to go away in one day after a nice little talk. He needs the time to deal with it. As do you,” he added with a pointed look.

Pain flashed through Conrad’s brown eyes. “I feel terrible about what this has done to him. I’ve already betrayed him once, and it killed me to see it in his eyes. He gave me that same look last night. I can’t let him go on thinking that I’ve betrayed him again.”

Yozak heaved a short, wry chuckle. “What makes you think that’s what he thinks of you?”

Conrad frowned, disturbed. “What do you mean?”

Yozak nodded toward Yuuri in the distance. “His Majesty isn’t cursing you. He’s sitting there telling himself that he’s stupid and it’s all his fault, not yours.” He made a disgruntled face. “Even in the face of the truth, he won’t blame you. It isn’t fair.”

Conrad followed his gaze to where Yuuri sat, arms curled around his knees, staring into the fire. “How can you say that?” he breathed. “You don’t know…”

“Think about it,” Yozak said with another little chuckle. “How well do you know him by now?”

After a moment’s thought, Conrad sighed worriedly. “I see. He’s not as angry with me as he is with himself.”

“Though I’m sure he’s a little angry with you as well.” Yozak raised an eyebrow at the curt frown Conrad gave him. “What? It’s true.”

The commander eyed him. “You’re being significantly more civil to me yourself.”

“Yeah, well…” Yozak looked away. “I know you better than he does. I’ve had to put up with you for decades. This isn’t anything new to me.”

Conrad shook his head slowly. “All the more reason that I should speak with him, then, and try to assuage his worries. It isn’t his fault, in any way.”

“Don’t,” Yozak said again with a shake of his head. “You’re not the one who should be doing anything about the Maou’s feelings.”

“Yozak!”

“It’s not fair that his sensitive heart should be so twisted up in knots over this,” Yozak went on, ignoring the protest, “but you’re not the one responsible for healing it.” He grabbed a fistful of Conrad’s sleeve and turned him slightly, so he was looking across the camp at Yuuri – and at Wolfram quietly approaching him where he sat. They watched for a moment, before Yozak continued in a secretive murmur. “He shouldn’t be beating himself up over you. You’re not worth it. But he’s not going to see that if you keep trying to comfort him and he doesn’t want you to. It’s someone else’s job now, to pick him up and make him see the truth. You need to just leave it be.”

Conrad gazed yearningly across the camp to Yuuri, but he was starting to see Yozak’s point. As much as he wanted to fix things, he knew that as long as Yuuri refused to talk to him, he wouldn’t get anywhere. If Wolfram couldn’t get his attention, no one could.

 _I’m so stupid_ , Yuuri was telling himself as he stared into the fire, absently watching a twig he had thrown in curl up in the heat of the coals. _How did I not see it? I feel so dumb. When am I going to learn?_ He picked up another twig lying on the ground and tossed it into the fire, watching it glow and smolder before catching fire and vanishing in seconds. Then, he heard the scuff of a boot in the dirt behind him, and sighed softly. _Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away…_

“Yuuri,” Wolfram said in a calm, placid tone. “If you’re just going to sit there and throw sticks into the fire, you may as well come to bed. None of us got much sleep last night. It’s a good time to make up for it.”

Yuuri drew his knees up and rested his folded arms on them, hiding his surprise that the visitor had not been the one he expected. “I’m fine, Wolfram,” he mumbled. “I’m not sleepy.”

Wolfram stood behind him, frowning at his back. “Then I’ll sit here with you and keep you company.”

“You don’t have to do that…”

“I want to.” Wolfram took a step closer. “You’re upset about something. Are you going to sit there and mope about it all day and all night, or are you going to tell me?”

Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he tried to say. “I just…have a lot on my mind. That’s all.”

Wolfram stared at him a moment longer, and then murmured, “What did Conrad say to you?”

Yuuri sat up with a start, and then said, too late to cover it, “What makes you think it has anything to do with Conrad?”

“You were talking to him last night,” Wolfram pointed out. “And then you came into the pavilion in tears. If he said anything to hurt you, I’ll kill him.”

The reminder of it make Yuuri flinch, though he kept his eyes riveted on the fire to save himself a breakdown. “Don’t be angry with him,” he said morosely. “It’s my fault. I’m just too stupid to see what’s right in front of me.”

“You won’t get any argument from me on that,” Wolfram snorted. “But how will I know if you’re right or just being tragic if you don’t tell me what happened?”

Yuuri wilted with a long sigh. “I’m not being tragic, Wolfram, I…” He stopped himself before he could admit anything and lowered his head, studiously refusing to turn around and face his companion.

Wolfram placed a hand on his shoulder from behind. “Come on,” he said quietly. “Let’s go into the pavilion. No one else will bother you there.”

After a long moment’s thought, Yuuri figured he couldn’t argue with that idea. He pushed himself up from the log he had been sitting on and turned away from the fire, giving Wolfram the briefest helpless glance before going past him to the pavilion across camp. Wolfram followed a step behind.

Not far away, Conrad stood tensely watching, hoping that whatever had passed between the two boys was going to turn out for the better. Yozak’s hand came down heavily on his shoulder. “You see? It’s not your place anymore. Unless you want to keep pretending that he’s Julia, and making it worse for everyone involved, you need to let him go. He’ll come back to you for advice and guidance when he’s ready.” Yozak withdrew his hand and gave Conrad a sullen look. “I just hope you are, too.”

Conrad glanced his way, curious to note that Yozak was actually pouting, if it were possible. He watched Yozak wrestle the axe out of the stump and set it aside so he could pick up the firewood and stack some of it in the nearby wagon. “Ready for what?” he challenged. “I’ve been charged with protecting him, Yozak. I can’t leave him.”

“I didn’t say leave him,” Yozak sighed, dropping the wood into the wagon with a noisy clatter. “You really are as dense as he is, aren’t you?” He turned, and looked past Conrad to where the pair of boys had disappeared into the far pavilion. “I’m not talking about your promise to protect him, or be his guide or godfather or whatever you are to him. I mean the rest of it.” He stepped back up to Conrad, setting his hands on his hips and speaking in an urgent hush to hide it from prying ears. “He wasn’t wrong. You have this insane expectation that he can stand in Julia’s place. That has to stop, for his sake as well as for yours.” He scowled in frustration. “Can you stop pining after the one betrothed, just this once, and look somewhere else for the happiness you deserve? Yuuri is engaged. Leave him to his fiancé. You did the same thing twenty years ago and look where it got you. It’s a good thing he got engaged to Wolfram,” he added with a derisive snort, stepping back and looking Conrad over. “You wouldn’t have known what to do with him if he were available. I shudder to think of it.”

“Yozak,” Conrad snapped. “That’s enough. I would never…!”

“No, because you always have to moon after the one you can’t have,” Yozak snapped back. “Even when your chance at happiness is right in front of you, you’re chasing after someone who’s already betrothed. I don’t know why you have this need to sabotage your own personal life, but if that’s the way you want it, fine. I’ll stop trying to make sense to you.” He picked up the other stack of wood waiting for him and blustered away to leave it by the fire, so those on watch throughout the night could keep it burning until breakfast.

Conrad stood there for a moment, letting it all sink in, and then purposefully stalked after him. He caught up as Yozak straightened up, but remained a step away from him. “How long?” he breathed.

Yozak raised an eyebrow at him. “Hmm?”

“How long have you felt this way about me?”

Yozak looked away, pursing his lips as he thought. “Longer than I care to admit,” he answered. His eyes slowly returned to Conrad’s expectant face. “Why?”

For a moment Conrad didn’t answer, his eyes traveling from Yozak’s calm face, down his body and back up again. He was quite a beautiful example of manhood, when he chose to look at him that way. “Even back then?”

“Yeah.”

“You should have said something.”

Yozak shook his head. “You were pining hopelessly after Julia. I could have stood naked in front of you and it wouldn’t have gotten your attention.”

Conrad mustered a pitiful smile. “You stood naked in front of me in the baths all the time.”

“Oh, well, in front of all the other boys, yeah,” Yozak shrugged. “That doesn’t count.”

Conrad sighed shortly, starting to turn away. “I…don’t know what to say. Yozak…”

A hand alighted on his arm, and Yozak was there beside him, smiling again. “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s take a walk. Leave the kids with some privacy so they can talk. You don’t have to say anything…” He brushed past Conrad and started away, towards the trees behind the pavilions. “Just walk with me.”

Upon entering the pavilion, Wolfram noticed the guard who was supposed to be rooming with them and curtly ordered, “Leave us.” The blue-coated guard slinked out, obediently avoiding Yuuri, who stood like a statue with his arms at his sides. The movement near to him snapped Yuuri to alertness, and he drifted further in, one slow step at a time. Wolfram remained by the door, securing the flap and then turning to gaze after Yuuri, folding his arms. “If you’re not in the mood to talk,” he offered, “then you should go to bed. You look tired.”

“I hardly slept,” Yuuri admitted. “I couldn’t shut my brain off. It just kept going around and around everything, coming back to the same painful things…” Saying it, thinking about it, brought it all rushing back, including lying in this same pavilion the night before crying himself to sleep on his cot. His knees went weak, forcing him to drop to a seat on the nearest cot. “Why?” he whispered, more to himself. “Why do I have to be so stupid?”

Wolfram gazed worriedly at him. “Yuuri…”

“I don’t belong here,” Yuuri complained. “Nobody believes in me. I don’t get to be myself for any of them, I’m just…a pawn, a tool, a…a substitute for someone else.”

Wolfram frowned. “I don’t think that. What are you talking about, Yuuri?”

Yuuri bit his lip. “Why can’t he see that I’m just me?” he whimpered. “Why do I have to be Julia? I don’t remember anything from her, I wouldn’t even know I had her soul if nobody had told me. That doesn’t make me her, does it?” He glanced briefly over his shoulder at Wolfram. “I’m not really her, right? I’m me, I’m Shibuya Yuuri…Haraju…” His breath caught in his throat before he could finish, making him clamp his mouth tightly shut before he could lose his composure.

“Yuuri…” Wolfram stepped closer to him, speaking gently. “Of course you’re you. Is that what’s upsetting you?”

Yuuri clenched a fist in his lap. “They don’t care about me. All they care about is Julia. All I ever hear is Julia, Julia, Julia. I’m living in the shadow of a dead woman that everybody loved. No matter what I do, they don’t see me when they look at me – they see her. Everybody – Adelbert…Conrad…” He heaved a shuddering breath, and the first tears dropped onto his hand. “I can’t escape her. All this stuff about Rutenberg brought it all up again. How can I ever expect to live up to that? Nobody cares about me, they just want me to be her.” He grimaced painfully, surrendering to the tears and letting them run down his cheeks. “They don’t love me for me. They love her. I can’t deal with this. I can’t be her, no matter how much they want me to. No one loves just plain old me.”

He sat there for a while, shuddering, sniffling, his face turned away from Wolfram in shame. Then, he felt warm hands on his shoulders, and the cot sag with the weight of another person. Arms came around him, and he found himself being pulled back against Wolfram, the young man’s cheek coming to rest on his shoulder. “Someone does,” he whispered. “I don’t care about Julia. All I see is you.” He then heaved a sigh of exasperation. “Well, I’m pretty sure Günter’s infatuation has nothing to do with Julia either,” he grumbled, “but…I meant me.”

Yuuri slumped against him, stunned by the tight embrace and Wolfram’s willing closeness. Another tear coursed down his cheek and dripped onto his hand in his lap. “Wolfram…”

Wolfram closed his eyes and simply held him. “When I met you, I didn’t know anything about the Julia stuff. All that mattered to me was you. All I know is that you’re the one I care about, the one I want to be close to. Who cares about the rest of them? You don’t need them. You’ve got me.”

Yuuri took a deep breath to compose himself, the warmth of the arms wrapped around him chasing away the bitterness. For a long time they sat together like that, saying nothing more, just leaning against each other. At last, Yuuri turned his head slightly to regard his fiancé. “Did you know Julia?” he asked in a soft, weak voice.

Wolfram gave a nod. “Mhm.”

“How well?”

“Not very,” Wolfram admitted. “For a while she was my tutor, but I never bothered to get to know her. I was young. I resented being tutored in weak, girly things like music and literature and healing…she wanted me to become a healer,” he said sullenly. “I didn’t want to have anything to do with that, I would have rather been learning swordplay so I could join my brothers in the war. So I’m afraid I didn’t listen to her very much.” His voice dropped a bit. “But she was a close friend of my mother’s. I wasn’t affected by her death so much as upset that the loss was such a great blow to my mother.”

Yuuri nodded weakly. “I know a lot of people were affected like that when she died,” he muttered.

“I didn’t know her as closely as they did,” Wolfram pointed out, “so I don’t have that same sentimental attachment to her memory, like Conrad or Adelbert or Mother. Besides, you’re not her.” He lifted one hand and brushed a tear from Yuuri’s cheek. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. They can’t see the real you. You alone are the one I love.”

Embarrassed, Yuuri swiped the heel of his hand across his cheeks to wipe away the tears. “You don’t always act like it,” he offered with a choking laugh.

“You can take it, can’t you?” Wolfram shifted his hands to Yuuri’s shoulders, supporting him as he tried to sit up. “Or are you seriously the wimp I keep calling you?”

Yuuri kept his head down, fidgeting with his hands in his lap. “What do I do, Wolfram?” he whispered after a while. “How can I face Conrad, knowing that whenever he looks at me, all he can think about is Julia and how much he misses her?”

“That’s his problem to get over,” Wolfram said gently, “not yours.”

“But I can’t just ignore it,” Yuuri griped. “It’s always going to be there, in the back of my mind, making me question everything he says or does around me.”

“So tell him that,” Wolfram stated with a shrug. “Go up to him and tell him that if he can’t make himself better than those idiots in that town we just left, and let go of his past, it’s going to have the same effect – he’ll end up hurting more people than just himself.” Despite the simple, matter-of-fact tone to his voice, Wolfram was doing his best to help, and tried to show it by wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders again. “What do you want, Yuuri?” he murmured, resting his chin on his own arm where it curled around his fiancé’s neck. “Do you want a solution, or do you just want to sit here and cry about it? Either way…” He gentled his voice and hugged Yuuri even closer. “…I won’t leave your side. I’ll do what I can for you.”

Yuuri reached up and brushed away the last remaining tears on the tips of his eyelashes. “All I want is for things to be normal again…for there to be no argument between me and Conrad. But this time, I’m afraid it can’t just be brushed aside. The way we deal with each other is going to be forever changed.”

“Good,” Wolfram said sharply. “It’s about time my brother faced up to what he was thinking and got over it. You did him a favor, Yuuri.”

Yuuri twisted around to look at him. “How can you speak so harshly about your own brother?”

“Because an idiot is an idiot no matter how he’s related to you,” Wolfram said plainly. “It’s not fair for Conrad to treat you like that. Come to think of it,” he added with a pout that made his green eyes glitter, “it’s not fair to me, either. You’re my fiancé. He shouldn’t be pining after you that way.” He made a grouchy little noise of complaint. “If _you_ don’t want to tell him to grow up and deal with it, then I will.”

“No, Wolfram,” Yuuri said softly, returning to his original position. “Leave it be. I…I’ll talk to him if I have to, but maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s not up to me, and I just have to let him work it out in his own way.”

Wolfram tilted his head up to whisper in Yuuri’s ear. “Just never forget that there’s one person close to you who doesn’t think you’re Julia, who loves you for you.” He rubbed Yuuri’s shoulder and then pushed himself back. “You’re not going to do anything about it tonight. It’s late, you’re long past tired. You’re going to bed and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

As he pushed himself up from Wolfram’s cot to go take off his coat and shoes and fall onto his own cot, Yuuri found himself beginning to smile. “Yes mom,” he retorted under his breath, only to give a yelp as a pillow caught him in the back of the knees.

  


The following day, it seemed to the ignorant among the company that a weight of some kind had been lifted off their shoulders. Conrad no longer brooded while he rode, Yuuri was acting significantly more chipper than before, and even Yozak whistled as he rode behind the wagon to protect the rear flank. Yuuri still didn’t know how to approach Conrad, outside of practical matters, but when he needed to speak to him he just treated it like any other normal day discussing the plan of action, and Conrad kindly answered him in accordance. He chose to ride behind Yuuri and didn’t say much, but he no longer wore the troubled look of angst from the day before. At least they were returning to settled parts of Shin Makoku, and finally had a town or two to break up the monotony of riding. The eagerness with which the people of these distant, friendly burgs greeted the Maou and bent over backwards to please him brought the smile back to Yuuri’s face at last. He enjoyed having to meet mayors and town councils and hold babies and christen new wells, it gave him something to do, something to think about, that wasn’t himself or the personal struggles of those around him. Not to mention, it was nice to get some perspective after facing two days of distrust and anger in the mountains. Compared to that, the simple peasants of these adorable little towns were like saints toward the Maou, making sure that he and his company were provided for and shown a respectful welcome and farewell. About the only thing Yuuri wished now was that Conrad would give up on the idea of not imposing on the townsfolk and let them stay in an inn with a real bed, just once.

At last, a little more than two weeks after departing, they were home, riding back through the gate of Blood Pledge Castle to the cheers and welcome of the villagers who lived in the shadow of the Maou’s great fortress. Yozak had sent a message ahead so that the castle would be expecting their arrival, and accordingly, a fair-sized crowd had gathered in the courtyard to see them ride up, each one smiling in relief at the sight of home. Greta ran up as soon as Yuuri dismounted, squealing with glee to be picked up and hugged and then given a hand-made doll Yuuri had picked up along the way for her. “There was a very nice grandma in one of the towns, who makes dolls for all the children in her town,” he explained in a cute tone as he knelt in the dirt beside her. “She had a special one she said I could have just for you.”

“It’s so pretty!” Greta gushed, combing her fingers through the doll’s cornsilk hair. “Thank you Yuuri!” She pounced on him again, snuggling against his chest. “I’m so glad you’re home! Gwendal told me this morning that you were coming back and I’ve been sooo excited all day! Now we can sit down and have a big dinner together – right?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri said with a hesitant chuckle. “I just have a couple things I have to do first, okay? I really need to take a bath,” he laughed. “I smell like horses.”

“Eww, yeah, you do,” Greta agreed.

That made Yuuri roll his eyes as he stood back up. “All right, then. Go on and keep Miss Anissina company for a while, I’m going to clean up and then talk to Gwendal. And then we can have dinner together, all right?”

Greta had no problem with that, particularly because Wolfram greeted her next and promised to be there as well, after he helped Yuuri with his bath. The Maou, meanwhile, turned to Gwendal, who stood watching him expectantly after having his name invoked. “I trust your trip went more or less smoothly, your Majesty?” he asked in a low tone. “Considering I received no word of trouble along the way.”

“Well, it wasn’t totally uneventful,” Yuuri admitted with a sigh. “I want to talk to you about it. But later. After I’ve had some time to unwind.”

Gwendal nodded. “As you wish.”

An hour and a super-hot private bath later, Yuuri strode purposefully along an arched corridor to Gwendal’s office, his energy renewed by the long soak and a fresh set of clothing. Wolfram met him at the door, also washed and dressed and ready to handle the important details, and they entered to find Conrad waiting. While the Maou was unwinding, Yozak had been in to tell Gwendal as much as he could about their encounter with the distant mountain village, but there were some things only Yuuri could relate about how it played out. Gwendal was expecting him, and listened patiently as Yuuri told them of his final meeting with the townspeople, how he had grown so sick of their excuses that he simply told them off in his own way and left. Wayne’s change of heart had left him with a small glimmer of hope, but Yuuri faced Gwendal across his desk with an unusually grim light in his dark eyes. “They’re not going to all change their minds overnight,” he said seriously. “I know that. It would be nice if there were more like Mr. Wayne, but…I’m not expecting it. Some people just don’t want to let go of their past.”

“That is more true than you know,” Gwendal murmured, lacing his hands together. “Unfortunately, I have more practical matters to attend to, which won’t wait for hearts and minds to change over time.”

“I know,” Yuuri nodded. “That’s why you have my complete trust in this matter, Gwendal. Do whatever you have to do. Don’t go soft on these people if they continue to stand in your way, on my account.” He fixed Gwendal with a sincere, mature gaze. “I’d like to avoid any sort of fight, but if they try to use force to stop our soldiers from doing their jobs, then I suppose it’s within the soldiers’ rights to defend themselves. But whoever’s in command out there ought to know that not everyone in that town is against us.”

Gwendal gave him a nod in return. “I will keep that in mind, your Majesty.”

Yuuri sighed and turned away from him. “I know I’m not smart enough to make all the decisions in matters like this. That’s why I have you guys. You know so much better than I do what to do. You can step in and make the hard choices when I can’t. I’m…okay with that. I can see, now, that sometimes I just can’t stop people from hurting themselves when they’re so bent on it.”

“Nevertheless,” Gwendal said aloofly, going back to the papers on his desk, “taking rash actions in a place like that is no way to keep the peace. They may want to provoke us, to make themselves martyrs for their senseless cause. I don’t intend to let them. There will be no fighting on our side of the border, your Majesty.”

Yuuri glanced back at him and smiled faintly. “Thanks, Gwendal.”

“Now. Don’t you have a family dinner to attend?”

“Come,” Wolfram encouraged. “Greta is waiting for us.”

“All right. You’re not hungry, Gwendal?”

Gwendal had his head already bent over his usual stack of papers and a quill pen in hand. “I have a lot to do,” he demurred. “I’ll live.”

Yuuri shrugged, and then glanced aside at their other companion. “Conrad?”

Conrad’s brow lifted in surprise. “Well…you should have some time with Greta. I’m sure she missed you while you were gone.”

“It’s okay.” Yuuri smiled a little more strongly. “Family is invited.”

Conrad smiled back. “Very well.”

Much later, as night drew on and the corridors of the castle darkened, Yuuri found himself standing at a window with his elbows on the sill, staring up at the stars. He was amazed that unlike on Earth, it didn’t matter whether he was out in the open countryside or here in a city, the stars blazed so brightly above them just the same. A quiet step in the corridor behind him made him turn his head, and he smiled to see Conrad approaching. Dinner had gone quite well, they had even corralled Yozak from wherever he had been keeping himself and had the pleasure of good company, good food, and renewed laughter. Still, a shadow darkened Yuuri’s thoughts, as he knew that simply ignoring the argument wouldn’t smooth it over. Perhaps it was time to clear the air. Conrad wore an inscrutable look as he came into the light and stopped near to Yuuri. “Still up, your Majesty?” he casually wondered. “I would have thought you would have happily found your own bed after all these nights on a hard cot.”

“Oh, I’m headed there soon, believe me,” Yuuri said dryly. “Though I’m pretty sure Wolfram has already beaten me to it. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t such a blanket hog.”

Conrad smiled amiably. “He just enjoys being with you,” he said gently. “It’s good to see the change you’ve wrought in him.”

Yuuri blinked at him. “Change? What do you mean? He’s still the same mouthy brat as he was the first night I was here.”

Conrad shook his head slowly. “You haven’t been around him as long as I have,” he noted. “I know my younger brother very well. I’ve never seen him this way before – kind, caring, sweet. Generous. You shouldn’t take too much of what he says seriously,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes. “It’s his way of being affectionate. I’ve heard him speak in honest anger, and believe me – he’s never said an angry word to you in all this time.”

Yuuri stared in wonder, but guessed that Conrad was probably right – after all, the brothers had grown up together, been around each other all of Wolfram’s life. If anyone could understand the fiery blond boy, it would be his elder brother. Yet, how anyone could interpret any of Wolfram’s behavior as “sweet” was still beyond him. Smiling in concession, Yuuri leaned on the wall and prepared himself to finally have that talk he had been dreading. “Um, Conrad,” he began.

The taller man held up a hand to stop him there. “You don’t have to say anything, Yuuri,” he murmured. “You were right, about a lot of things. I haven’t been fair to you.”

“I just don’t want there to be any bad feelings between us,” Yuuri lamented. “I can’t tell you how to think, or how to live your life, but I really hope that…” He sighed, unable to find a way to say it without sounding lame. “I don’t like to see you in pain. That’s all.”

Conrad nodded absently. “It isn’t your fault,” he said encouragingly. “You’re simply living your own life, the way you choose. You have enough of the world’s expectations on your shoulders, you don’t deserve to have me forcing even more upon you.”

Yuuri kicked his heel against the wall behind him as he looked away sheepishly. “It’s just like the people in that town,” he said quietly. “All I can do is give you time and hope that it will be enough. The rest is up to you.”

“I know. And for once, I will try.” Conrad turned as if to leave. “It’s easy to dwell on my regrets, and think that I’m the only one who has to deal with them. But then I forget that my life touches so many others’, for better or for worse. You showed me that, the first time I betrayed you. I vowed never to do that to you again, and I will keep that vow.”

“I know you will,” Yuuri smiled.

“Now, go to your fiancé,” Conrad encouraged, turning completely and walking away. His voice echoed up the corridor back to Yuuri. “It always provides me with great amusement first thing in the morning to hear Günter’s shriek of dismay when he finds you two in bed together.”

That gave Yuuri pause to think, then to imagine any one of millions of such moments he had gotten out of Günter, after which he started grinning. He briefly reached to lay a hand over his heart, where he could feel the blue stone pendant beneath his coat, and then stuck his hands in his pockets and strode away to his bedroom and Wolfram. His only wish in the world right then was that Wolfram was not already asleep – because then he would be snoring, and sleep would be impossible.


End file.
